Every Detective Has Their Shadow
by Engineer4Ever
Summary: Beaten and left for dead, a 7 year old Naruto just wishes it would go away. Kyuubi having enough of this transports Naruto to Tokyo, Japan. Being adopted by one of Tokyo's finest, Sato Miwako, will Naruto finally have the life he should of had. NarutoxAi. Status: Hiatus until further notice, but don't expect anything some time soon.
1. A Fresh Start

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Detective Conan, please support the official release.

Beta'd by turki-sama

Challenge by Agurra of the Darkness

**Do** **the poll on my profile too!**

**0**

Pain

Pain was the only thing these people, no monsters, allowed him to feel. He was never once granted happiness of any kind.

He was smart, he was kind to others, he always kept to himself. So why? Why do these monsters take such pleasure in his suffering?

Didn't they know who he was?

He was Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto, son of the late Yondaime Namikaze Minato and his wife Uzumaki Kushina.

It wasn't hard for him to figure out.

He found a letter addressed to him while being held up in the Hokage tower on his sixth birthday. He found the picture of his father standing next to his pregnant mother smiling like no tomorrow. He was of course sad that they were dead, but better that then being abandon like all these other cruel monsters say.

He cherished that picture; hell he even learned about storage seals and made one on his arm to hide the picture along with a tri-prong kunai his father used along with some things about chakra and how to use it.

It was his seventh birthday today, October tenth. The day a child like him should be happy, but even the celebration of his own birth caused him pain.

He just kept thinking when these monsters would stop or would they? Maybe…maybe he could finally get some peace if they killed him. Would his parents want him to give up though? Would they want him to escape his constant pain? Would he be able to see his parents in heaven if he died?

As he felt his breath leave his body and he gasped for air, he felt light headed, he felt his warm blood leave his body.

**0 Naruto's mind-scape 0**

The sewer that was Naruto's mind was collapsing around the very being blamed for Naruto's misfortune.

The Kyuubi no Kitsune.

Kyuubi stirred from his sleep and looked around, **"You have got to be kidding me! What the hell you retard mortals! Like some child could ever be me! That is it, screw that senile old sage, I am done dealing with damn mortals."**

The giant fox gained a vulpine smile, **"So, you want him gone you damn monkeys? Well then you got it. Let's see how you survive without your precious Uzumaki and one of the last Senju to protect you, hahaha!" **laughed the fox as he did something with his power.

**0 Back to Naruto 0**

People stood back from the body of the 'demon brat' as he began to glow and just as he was just there he vanished.

A large explosion followed the boy's disappearance and killed all that had harmed him that day and it will forever mark the greatest failure in all of Konoha's history.

**0 Tokyo, Japan 0**

Currently inspector Megure was walking down the hallway of the local hospital with a very pissed off look on his face, following behind him was his good friend Mouri Korogo a private detective and a younger female detective on the force Sato Miwako.

"Which room?" the inspector asked a nurse with a clear edge in his tone and the nurse gave a shaky finger to the room down the hall in the intensive care unit.

The inspector continued walking down the hall as detective Sato gave the nurse a quick thank you to the nurse and Mouri gave a quick whistle as he had not seen his old friend this angry in a while.

The three detectives entered the room to see a young boy with spiky sun-kiss blonde hair, a tanned complexion and six whisker-like marks adoring his face, tripled on each cheek.

The boy who could be no older than seven had an I.V. in his arm, bandages all over his body and a face mask on to help him breath.

Megure's anger was bubbling to the top as his face turning a deep red as he tried to keep his cool.

Miwako just a hand covering her mouth as she wondered who would do such a thing to a child.

And Mouri, well as a father, he wanted to wring someone's neck as to who would stoop so low as to harm a child to such a degree where it was unknown if the child would be a vegetable for the rest of his life.

"Doc, what do you got for me?" Megure asked a chilled tone.

"W-well inspector from what we can tell the boy has an extreme cause of malnourishment, a few broken bones, stab wounds, a large amount of blood loss and that was just what he has right now. From our physical we can tell he has other injures just like these at an earlier time in his life and most of them had healed over without as much as a scar, but the strength of his bones indicates multiple fracture, sprains, and breaks. We had to pump him with sedatives just to get him from flailing around so he wouldn't reopen his wounds, we gave him as much B+ blood as we could to help fix the blood loss, and now we just need to wait and pray the boy makes a recovery." The doctor said as he read off from the chart.

"Is there an empty room or something I can borrow?" the inspector asked in a quiet voice.

"I'm sorry inspector, but all of the rooms are currently filled."

"A shame." The inspector muttered as he needed to release so of his anger.

"Will that be all?" asked the doctor

"Yes." Said the inspector dismissing the doctor

The doctor and nurses in the rushed out giving the detectives some time to talk.

"Sato, what did the officers at the scene find?"

Miwako cleared her throat and began reading the notes she received from the officers that found the boy, "Well sir, the boy was found beaten horrible at the scene and along with two things, a picture and a strange knife of some kind."

"Was the knife used on the boy?"

"No sir, the knife was in perfect condition and had no blood on it."

"And what's on the picture?"

"It seemed to be what I would believe to be the boy's parents, judging by the similar features the male in the picture shares with the boy and a red haired woman well into her pregnancy. There was a message written behind it as well, 'Minato and Kushina happily waiting for their son Naruto to be born.' That was all that was on the boy, sir."

"Thank you, what about the scene? Any evidence of a struggle?"

"No, the boy was most likely dumped at the scene and the beating took place somewhere else."

"Well since the kid is out like a light we can only hope he wakes up soon. Try and see if you can get a BOLO on the two in the picture. Maybe the boy was kidnapped."

"Or abused." Muttered Mouri

Megure looked at his friend and remembered some of the cases they did together early in their careers and how some of them were around child abuse cases…it wasn't a pretty sight, that's for sure.

"Sir." Said Sato as she saluted and left to call the station and gave one last sad look at the boy.

"Takes you back, right?" Mouri said wishing to light a cigarette to calm himself.

"Yea." Megure agreed

"Hee, and I thought we became members of the law to lock the animals who would do this kind of thing up."

"I think you mean me, as you quit." Shot back the inspector

"Yea yea." Said Mouri as he waved his hand at his friend

"Do you think we can find the kids parents?" asked Mouri

"I don't know. I'm hoping we do or they could be dead from whoever did this to the boy." Replied Megure

**0 Naruto's mind-scape 0**

'So…I'm dead huh?' thought Naruto as he laid, in what looked like a sewer.

'This is heaven. Man Kami needs a new decorator.'

"**Be grateful boy as I have given you a chance to live the life you wanted, NOW LEAVE!"**Bellowed a voice in the distance of the sewer and Naruto was brought out of his mind.

**0 Back in the ICU 0**

Detective Sato had returned and sat in the room with her boss and consultant.

30 minutes had passed and Naruto woke up. He looked around as he sharp ocean blue eyes looked around and smell the familiar scent of antiseptic.

He saw three people in the room with him, a large man with a brown hat and coat with a large mustache on his face, a slimmer looking man in a blue suit with slicked back black hair and a smaller mustache them the larger man on his face, and finally a woman with short black hair in a blue jacket and white pants.

His instincts kicked him and told him to run as he did not recognize these people who are usually near him when he wakes up in a hospital.

He shot up from the bed and ran out the door. The occupants in the room were so shocked that he woke up that they final snapped out of it a few seconds later.

"Crap, Sato go look for him, me and Mouri will round up the staff to help out, and be gentle, we don't know how stable he is." Said Megure

"Understood." Relied Miwako as he ran after the boy.

**0 with Naruto 0**

'Where they hell am I? This isn't Konoha's hospital?' he knew that hospital inside and out, after begin sent their so many times and being denied so many times it was hard not to memorize the places layout.

He found a storage closet and hide in it trying to figure out what was going on, 'How did I get here? Where the hell is here to begin with?'

As he was panicking he didn't notice the female officer behind him till it was too late.

"Here you are!" stated the officer

Naruto turned around and slowly etched to the back of the closet till he had no room left.

"Listen, I am not going to hurt you. Some police officers found you badly hurt and brought you to the hospital. We need to get you back into bed and ask you a few questions about what happened." The female officer calmly stated

Naruto just narrowed his eyes, "Liar, people are always hurting me for no reason. Why should I trust someone I don't even know?" the boy said with venom in his voice

The declaration shocked the detective but she knelt down near the boy, "I'm Sato Miwako, and can I ask your name?" she asked with kindness

Naruto just stared at her for a bit trying to see if she was lying, this was skill he had to learn quickly in order to survive that hell he lived in, "Naruto, Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto." He said with some pride

"Fishcake?" she said with a giggle

"Maelstrom!" Naruto said with his eye twitching

"Oh, sorry, yea it means that too. Well Naruto-kun, do you think you can come with me? The inspector has some questions to ask you about what happened."

Naruto was contemplating this and he didn't see any deception in the lady's eyes so maybe he should, "Fine."

"Come on." Sato said as he stuck out her hand

Naruto just stared at her hand not knowing what to do.

Miwako got a bit of a worried look in her eyes; did he not know to take someone's hand? Didn't his parents do that for him? She leaned closer and took his hand and started to walk back to the room with Naruto in tow.

They arrived in the room a few minutes later and Megure had Mouri tell the staff that boy was found.

Naruto propped himself on to the bed and waited for the officers boss to ask his questions.

"Hello son, I'm Megure Juzo, an inspector from the Police department. You were in some pretty bad shape when we found you kid; can you tell us what happened?" he asked in a kind voice

Naruto thought of what to say, 'Hey, I have no idea where I am. I'm usually beaten four to three times a week and I eat garbage to survive at times or ramen.' "No sir, just that I'm usually beaten a few times a week and all I really know is my name."

Megure's eyes showed some pity with a bit of anger, "Did your parents do this to you?"

"No sir, my…parents died not within an hour of my birth." Naruto said in a voice devoid of emotion

Miwako gasped at that and Mouri just had a frown on his face, 'To see the birth of your child and to be taken away from him so fast after, what a terrible shame.' He thought as he shook his head.

"Did you see who attack you?"

"No, just that there were a lot of them telling me to just die." Naruto said trying to get some sympathy points and it was true.

Megure's mouth became a thin line, "I see. Well son, do you have any other extended family? 'Naruto shook his head' Then were going to have to take you to an orphanage after your released. Hopefully there should be some good people willing to adopt you."

"They would just kick me out like the last one." Naruto muttered

"What?" asked Miwako

"I was kicked out of the orphanage I was in when I was four, something about demons not needing parents."

Each of the adults in the room just thought what kind of monsters did this child live around.

Naruto got out of bed and started to remove his bandages.

"Hey kid, you're still hurt, you can't take them off yet!" Mouri said

Naruto just waved him off, "I heal fast so it's ok."

And just as he said he was healed. That really stumped the adults in the room.

"Well let's just get a doctor to check you out first; it's not that I don't believe you, just better safe than sorry." Said Megure

A few minutes later and a few tests and just as Naruto said he was fine.

"Well lets getting you to that orphanage son, so you can get some sleep."

"Actually inspector since I'm already dealing with Conan, I'm sure I can handle one more at home." Mouri said as he didn't want this kid to be around some strangers even if he was one but he was still a familiar face.

"Actually…I would like to adopt him." said Miwako in a quiet voice

"Eh? You sure Sato." Asked Megure

"Yes, I live alone and I also have a spare room. I actually have always wanted to be a mother." She said with a bit of a blush, she found the boy cute and wished to help him out. Just something about him made her maternal instincts come to the surface.

"Well that's sounds like a plan, how 'bout it son? Do you want detective Sato to adopt you?" asked Megure

Naruto just stared at the woman again, why did she want to help him? Did she pity him? Or was it something else.

"Yea, that sounds great." Naruto said with a smile and not one of his fake ones.

"Oh, can I get my stuff back?" asked Naruto

"The picture? Sure you can."

"The knife too."

"Kid that's a weapon, you know. You could hurt yourself." Mouri said

"It was my dads, he was a…blacksmith that made special thing when he was alive. That was his personal one he made for himself." Naruto lied

"Sure son, Sato will have them for you later when we get it back from the evidence." Megure said, not wanting to part something that belonged to the kids' parents.

"Well Naruto-kun, ready to go?" Sato asked as she placed her hand near him and Naruto took it with a smile.

**0 A few days later 0**

The next day Naruto had official become Sato Naruto. While he would love his parents, even if he didn't get to know them, he really wanted a family or just a mother.

Miwako and Naruto had started off rough, but they were getting along great. Miwako's best friend Miyamoto Yumi came over a few times to help out. She was mischievous woman with long brown hair and she worked at the police department as a traffic cop.

The first time she saw Naruto, she tackle hugged him claiming he was the cutest thing she had ever seen, he grumbled at her saying he wasn't cute because he was a boy, and she just ignored him and smashed his face in her bosom. She also called him Miwako's secret love child, which said newly mother blushed red and chased her out of the house.

They went clothing shopping for Naruto also.

Naruto was now sporting a white tee-shirt with red flames licking the sleeves and black shorts with red snickers. Of course he got some others cloths but these were his favorite.

Turns out the two both had something majorly in common, they both loved ramen.

Naruto had been register for school at Teitan Elementary.

Naruto was somewhat nervous as he waited to enter the class room with his new teacher, Kobayashi Sumiko.

"Well everyone we have another new student joining our class today, so I hope you will make him feel welcomed." Said the teacher

"Hai Kobayashi-sensei!" said the class

"You can come on in Naruto-kun."

Naruto took a breath and opened the door with bored look on his face and entered.

He walked up to the front and introduced himself, "Sato Naruto, pleased to meet you." He said with a smile and some of the girls had blushes on their faces…were they sick?

Edogawa Conan, or known by a few others as Kudo Shinichi a 17 year old teen genius detective, turned into a 7 year old child by a villainous organization for witnessing a crime, they thought he was dead, but he was now under the guise of Conan trying to figure out a way to be normal again and capture this organization.

He looked at the boy and tried to remember the name, Sato, yes that was that female detective from the police department. He wondered if they were related.

"Naruto-kun why don't you sit next to Ayumi-chan, Ayumi-chan can you raise your hand." Said the female teacher

"Hai, sensei." Said a girl with short brown hair with a yellow band in it, with a pink shirt and white shorts.

Naruto walked up to the girl and gave her a smile, "Hi, I'm Naruto." He said sticking out his hand

The girl giggled with a blush on her face, "I'm Yoshida Ayumi." She said shacking his hand.

After class ended most of the girls in class swarmed around Naruto asking him questions.

Ayumi was pushed aside during this interaction.

"How rude." Huffed Ayumi as she wanted to talk to the new kid also.

'Looks like we have a future playboy in the making.' Thought Conan with a chuckle as he adjusted his glasses.

The detective boys gang round up to him and their new member, a light brown haired girl named Haibara Ai, her true identity though is Miyano Shiho, a scientist that work for the evil organization he's after and the one that developed the drug that turned him into a kid. she had taken the drug as well to escape the organization and now they are working together.

"So…what you think of the new kid?" asked the portly member of the gang named Kojima Genta

"The girls seem to like him a lot." Commented the nerdy looking member named Tsuburaya Mitsuhiko

"Indeed." Muttered Ai as she looked at group swarming the poor boy.

"His name is Sato, do you think he's related to detective Sato?" asked Conan trying to get the ball rolling as he wished to know.

"Ah, your right Conan-kun, he just might be!" Said Ayumi

"Looks like the detective boys have another case!" exclaimed Genta

'It's just one question though.' Though Conan and Ai as they watched the kids get overly excited once again.

"Sorry girls but I have to go home." Naruto said apologetically

"Aw!" said the girls

"I'll see you tomorrow though." Naruto said with another smile and they squealed at him.

'Weird.' Naruto thought as he walked near the door

"Hey Naruto-kun, wait up!" Said Ayumi as she and her friends walked out with Naruto.

"Yes, Ayumi-san?" Naruto asked as he tilted his head to the side

"Well, we were just wondering, since your name is Sato, are you related to Detective Sato?" she said

"Kaa-san?"

"Eh! She's your mother!" shouted the three kids as Conan and Ai went wide-eyed, they knew she was only 26 and to have a child at 7 she would at least have been 18,19 years old.

"Well, not really, I'm adopted." He said with no shame, after all finally having a family of his own he would be happy to talk about it.

"Oh." The kids said with some embarrassment

'She seemed to be more of a work oriented woman, didn't think she would want children so early in her career, eh who am I to judge.' Thought Conan with a mental shrug

"Wait a sec, aren't you that Edogawa kid?" Naruto asked pointing at Conan

"Um, yea."

Naruto gave a light laugh as the group walked in the courtyard, "I hear you're a pretty good detective. Kaa-san talks about you sometimes and about how smart you are."

Conan blushed a bit and smiled, "Wow, thanks." Giving a kid like answer

"Hey! Heads up!" shouted one the kids playing soccer in the distance.

The stray ball went flying for Ai's face and Conan was about to kick it away but he was a second slow as Naruto was already there and gave the ball a jump kick and sent it flying it to the goal.

Naruto landed and looked at Ai in concern, "Are you alright Ai-san?"

Everyone was wide-eyed at the shot he just made, Ai came down from her surprise and nodded her head, "Thank you Sato-san."

Naruto just waved her off, "You can call me Naruto."

Ai just gave a small smile, "Very well, Naruto-san."

'That was one hell of a shot.' Thought Conan as he would need his power shoes to hit that hard, how strong was this kid.

"Well I got to get going, see you around guys." Naruto said waving good bye as he ran home.

Naruto used his key and walked into the apartment.

"Ah, Naruto-kun, your home." Said Yumi

"Hey Yumi-nee-san, Kaa-san not home yet huh."

"She should be back in a few minutes or so. The inspector had her filling out some paperwork." She said with a shutter

"Ha, sounds terrible."

"It is! It is!" she said childishly but she got a sly look on her face

"How was your first day?"

"Well it was-"

"I'm home!" said Miwako

"Hey Kaa-san."

"Mou, Miwako, you just ruined Naruto-kun telling about his first day." Yumi said with a pout

"Well good, as now I can hear it. Go on Naruto-kun." Miwako said with a smile as she took off her shoes.

"Well I walked in and introduced myself and all the girls faces were red after that, class was a bit boring, and after school was done all the girls surrounded me asking what I liked to eat and if they could touch my whisker marks, just stuff like that. Oh and I ran into that Conan kid you talked about too, even saved that Ai girl from being hit in the head with a soccer ball. That's about it."

Yumi was just holding in her laughter and Miwako was dealing with a problem she thought she wouldn't have to deal with till he was older.

"Well go clean up and I'll set up dinner, ok." His mom said

"Gotcha ya." Naruto said with a sly salute and dashed to his new room

"Well it seems-"

"Don't even say it." The detective said with a bit of edge in her voice

"We have a little heart breaker on our hands!" Yumi said in a sing-song tone

"Great." Miwako said with a sigh as she rubbed her temple.

"Just wait till puberty." Yumi added with a laugh

Miwako just groaned.

**0**

**First chappy of this challenge, I will be doing this only every once in a while. And turn it to one of my main stories after I finish one of my other ones. R&R, no flames, peace off!**


	2. The Final Screening Murder Case

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Detective Conan, please support the official release.

Challenge by Agurra of the Darkness

**0**

**Well I didn't really get much feedback on this, but who knows in the future. I personally really like this and might change it from a side project to a permanent one, if it gets more reviews.**

**0**

Miwako had noticed Naruto trying to practice some type martial art. When asked, he said he wanted to know how to defend himself.

Miwako thought about it and smiled and asked him if he wanted to go where she practiced karate.

She gave a small laugh at how excite he was and had brought him there.

So for the past few weeks he started attending lessons after school and Yumi was kind enough to pick him up after the lessons when she was busy with work.

Naruto, in his spare time had started to learn to channel his chakra, it was slow at first, but he was getting the hang of it.

Naruto had told his mother about making friends with Conan and the Detective Boys in the past few weeks and was also happy to see he was making friends.

She deeply approved of Conan also since she found him to be incredible bright and Naruto was also, so it was perfect for Naruto to learn about things from Conan and to her hope maybe want to be a detective as well, since the glasses wearing boy had the makings of a great detective. (She has no idea!)

**0 school 0**

Naruto was currently reading a book on psychology, as it seemed interesting and the title did say it was a beginner's book.

Naruto could help but admire his situation. This new world was great! He may have loved his parents but now he didn't have to become a ninja, a killer. He could live a peaceful normal life, one that he was denied.

Naruto didn't notice how all the girls were staring at him with dreamy looks in their eyes.

Naruto had noticed Conan and the rest of the detective boys coming into class and remembered that they went on a trip last weekend and wanted to know how it went.

"Hey guys." Naruto said with a smile as he approached them.

"Ah, Naruto-kun." Ayumi said with a smile, she would admit that Naruto was cute, but she still liked Conan better. Though that was no reason not to be nice to the blonde.

"Naruto-san." Ai said with a curt nod

"Hello Ai-san." Naruto said with a smile, "So how was the camping trip?"

"Well." Conan said

After the telling of the story of the old castle **(1)**, Naruto had a frown on his face, "Guys, that was really dangerous. What would you have done if something happened?"

Conan blinked and was not expecting this kind of reaction, normally if another kid heard this they would say it was cool or something, it seemed this Naruto had a good head on his shoulders…for a kid.

"But nothing really bad happened to us." Genta said as he scratched his head.

"So if you get into this kind of situation again what are you going to do? Solve the mystery and murder, while running from the murderer? This isn't a game you're playing." Naruto knew about death and murder, his whole village was all about it, hell, half the economy was based on murder for hire.

"So what do you think we should do next time Naruto-san?" Ai asked with interested and had amusement in her eyes, seeing some seven year old giving a life lesson, 'You only live once.' Was pretty much what he was saying.

Naruto sighed, "Looks like I'm joining the Detective Boys then."

"Eh?" said the group, even Conan and Ai.

"Duh, how else am I going to keep you guys out of trouble or when trouble finds you?" Naruto stated it as a fact, since from what they told him, they get into trouble…a lot.

'Good point.' Thought the three kids

'Maybe having someone with a bit of maturity would stop the others from doing something reckless?' Conan thought. Well more maturity then there already is.

Ai gave a smile, "Sounds fun."

"Well, why don't we celebrate having our new member with these!" Ayumi said while holding up tickets.

"Eh? Aren't those movie tickets?" asked Genta

"Yeah, the professor gave them to Haibara-san saying we should go together." Answered Ayumi

"Eh, special movie tickets for any time." Said an awed Mitsuhiko

"So, how about it?" asked Ayumi

"Alright, Wednesday is a national holiday. We'll go as the Detective Boys Movie Group." Said Genta

"Don't you mean, just the Movie-Appraise Group?" Joked Mitsuhiko

Ayumi turned in her seat, "Conan-kun is coming too, right?" she asked

"Eh-No, I'm busy…" trailed off Conan trying to get out of it.

"What do you mean Conan? Aren't you going?" Genta asked

"Haibara-san went through all this trouble for these tickets." Mitsuhiko stated.

"They were free you know." Ai commented as she continued to read her book.

Naruto gave a small chuckle at that her comment.

Both Genta and Mitsuhiko sweat dropped at that.

"An-anyways, to stick together, all members of the Detective Boys should come." Mitsuhiko continued

"Right, right, otherwise it's no fun." Genta said nodding.

"Okay, okay, I'll go! I'll come along." Conan said with his hands in a surrendering matter.

'Of course…' Conan thought with a sigh.

"A great detective indeed." Ai teased with a laugh.

"Leave me alone." Conan muttered to her.

Ai turned to see the closed book in Naruto's hand and gave an amused smile, "Psychology?"

Naruto turned to her and smile brightly, the girls in class squealed, "Yeah, found it in Kaa-san's bookcase and it looked interesting."

"Can you even understand?" she asked with a smirk.

Naruto smirked back, "All you have to do is read it and yes, I can understand it."

"Interesting, I may have to quiz you on that." Ai commented

"I'm game." He replied

Conan turned and raised an eyebrow, 'Psychology? Wonder how advance he really is?'

**0 Let's go to the movies 0**

Naruto and Ai leaned against the wall of the theater as they read their respected books as Conan and rest of the group argued over what movie to watch.

The others wanted to watch a monster movie.

While Conan suggested a detective movie.

"Hey Haibara-san, Naruto-kun, what do you want to see?" Ayumi asked

"Well there is a movie showing about Einstein's life. How about this one?" she suggested

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Really?" he asked with a hint of interest.

He had started to read a lot and Einstein's name came up a few times in the material he had read when he studied a bit of physics.

"Einstein? Is that a food?" Genta asked

Naruto resisted the urge to face palm and just settled for his eye twitching.

Conan suggested splitting up so each could watch their respected pick without complaint.

But Ayumi argued they couldn't do that since Haibara had received the tickets and they should stick together.

So they decide that the best way to pick a movie would be through an epic…Rock, Paper, Scissor's battle!

Naruto signed as he watched the movie of a giant lizard monster fighting a giant spider.

He should have bought that book light he saw coming here.

The three other kids were cheering for the lizard monster to win.

"Look at that, getting excited for winning." Conan said with a sigh.

"Well, I think it's rather well made. Human sorrow spawned from technology. Doesn't scare you?" Ai commented

"Personally I'd rather have seen the Einstein movie. At least that one would have been an interesting topic to talk about when we'd leave." Naruto said as he watched the movie while eating some popcorn.

"Not much for fun are we?" Conan asked

Naruto shrugged, "You view fun your way and I'll view it my way." He shot back.

'Touché.' Conan thought

Naruto: 1 Conan: 0

A nerdy looking teen **(Ide Toshiyuki)** came over and told the others in the group to quiet down.

"Come to think of it, there aren't many people here, only about four." Conan commented

"Yeah your right and schools are out today too." Genta said

"It's because that there've been fights breaking out here. Most parents would advise their kids to stay away from here because of them. So that's why you don't see many or none at all." Naruto stated

"Ah, my tou-san told me to stay away from here." Ayumi said

"Yea, my Okaa-san too." Genta added

Conan started to look around and noticed latter's, ropes, and wires around the place.

Naruto saw this and whispered to him, "I heard this place is closing down."

"How do you know that?" Conan asked

Naruto shrugged, "I'm observant and you can feel the life of this place fading. Kaa-san said that the fights here have been bad for business and that the selling price went down from them." Naruto replied

Conan raised his eyebrow with interest.

The movie had ended and the group walked out of the theater and headed to the refreshment stand.

The group was discussing on which part they like and both Naruto and Conan stated it was 'so-so'.

"Well, now that it's over why don't we play some soccer?" Conan suggested

Genta tilted his head, "What are you talking about Conan? We still have two more to go."

Conan turned around to read the schedule and looked in disbelief.

Naruto wanted to silently cry because of having to spend such a beautiful day inside.

"Five hours for three films, cheap tickets." Ai commented with a smirk.

Naruto followed the other kids as Ai and Conan trailed behind them.

The blonde had decided to hang back as the rest of the group got their refreshments and how the concession stand girl **(Tomosato Yuriko, 23)** had given them some free popcorn in honor of the theaters final screening and the elderly man **(Muramatsu Akio, 62)** that owned the place introduced himself.

"So that's why all those ropes and stuff are around." He said 'Seems Naruto was right.' Conan thought

"Sorry for that, the workers are in a hurry." The owner said

"Honestly they could have started tomorrow." Yuriko said with a huff.

"Don't talk like that. I've allowed this place to stay running long enough. The owner requested this place to stay open till the anniversary of the opening." Spoke a thug looking man with a cigarette hanging in his mouth. **(Haruta Seiji, 43)**

"Haruta-san…" the elderly man said with some distain.

Naruto couldn't help but crinkle his nose at the man, the feeling he gave off just disgusted him.

"You know it's rather disappointing there are more people for the theaters final day." Haruta said

"Hey there! No smoking. I'm getting tired of this Tako." Spoke a well built man. **(Furuhashi Minoru, 39)**

The thug feinted surprise, "Oh, my apologizes." He spat his cigarette on the ground and stomped on it and gave a small laugh, "I'll remember from this day forth. Oh that's right, this place will be gone tomorrow." He continued with a laugh and walked away.

"Oh, man!" the well built man said in annoyance.

"Hey mister, you said you were tired of telling him, is he here often?" Conan asked

"Yea, he comes around here every day. There's fights nearly every time too." He answered

"Probably stages them himself so he gets a price from a dying theater instead of a flourishing one." Naruto commented with disgust.

The man looked shocked and nodded, "Good guess."

The nerdy teen from early was seen walking into the hallway and he seemed to be taking photo's.

Apparently the teen has been coming here since his childhood and is like a son to the owner, or so he says.

Naruto wasn't really listening as he continued to look in the direction the thug went. Something felt weird, like when his instincts would flare when someone was trying to hurt or kill him. It was just an uncomfortable feeling.

"It looks like it's time for lunch." The elderly man said.

"Ah, I forgot to get everyone's lunch!" the clerk girl said in shock.

The elderly man waved it off, "It's alright. I'll go get it."

"No manager, you stay with the theater today." Said Yuriko

"Yuri-chan, why don't you go after the next movie, I don't think there's going to be any more customers today."

"If you say so." Yuriko said in a sad tone.

"Oh, it's time to start. Right, bring some tea for me." Minoru said as he waved her off.

"Right, but you're paying extra." Yuriko teased

"Eh, don't worry." He replied as he walked to the projection room.

The Detective Boys walked back into the theater waiting for the second film to start.

Naruto and Conan watched the thug from earlier harass a couple watching the movie with distain.

"I called it." Naruto whispered to him and Conan nodded.

Mitsuhiko was complaining that it was getting colder in the theater; while Genta joked he was scared.

Naruto noticed how Ayumi fell asleep and laid on Conan's shoulder.

Conan turned to Haibara," Oi Haibara, Ayumi fell asleep on me and I need to use the bathroom. Can you switch seats…" He whispered to her, but didn't get to finish as he saw her lean on Naruto's shoulder.

Both Naruto and Conan looked at each other as Naruto had an amused smiled, but Conan looked like he was going to blow.

Suddenly a large shadow covered the screen.

Naruto and Conan turned around and saw something hanging in front of the projector.

Their sudden movements stirred Ayumi and Ai from their sleep.

As everyone was in a panic as to what was going on.

The lights turned on and there was Haruta hung from his neck by a rope.

"It seems you never have time for a vacation." Ai quipped to Conan.

"I think I'm going to start a new theory Ai-san." Naruto added

Ai turned to the blonde, "Oh, What are you going to call it?"

"The Conan Effect Theory. Where ever he goes someone dies or at least that's what you guys have told me." Naruto said with a shrug, completely unaffected by the dead body in the room.

Ai hummed, "Interesting, I may help you with that." She said with interest and a ghost of a smile.

'Oi, oi, don't call me a murder magnet!' Conan shouted in his mind and looked at them with a sweat drop.

Ayumi shouted in fear and hugged Conan tightly.

**0 Later 0**

Inspector Megure and another officer came with the rest of a police squad.

The Inspector was asking for the time of death when Mitsuhiko walked up and state it happened during a certain part of the movie.

The Inspector looked displeased that the Detective Boys were once again at a crime scene.

Megure looked and saw Naruto and gave the boy a nod, which Naruto returned.

"If it happened during the middle of the movie then…" Minoru trailed off.

"12:44." Said the voice of Toshiyuki

"Hm?" Megure said

"If the movie started on time, then I'm sure the time is accurate." Toshiyuki continued with a smirk.

"How do you know all the details like that?" Megure asked with some suspicion.

"Because he's a big fan of these movies." Interjected the elderly manager.

"Inspector Megure." Shouted one of the officers.

"Oh! Chiba-kun. What did you find?" Megure asked

"According to the old lady at the ticket sales booth, the only ones here were these six kids and these four people." the office stated.

"Is that statement true?" Megure asked

"Yeah. Ever since the movie started, Sanoko-san, said she was chatting with the neighbor."

"I see." Megure said with a sigh, "So if this is a murder case, then the only ones capable of doing this would be one of you four." Megure stated

Each of them gasped.

"Hey Inspector-san, it has to be a suicide. Someone like the old man, a young woman, and a skinny teen couldn't have done it." Minoru said, trying to reason with the Inspector, "I guess the only one who could have done it was me, but I was in the projection room. Right, Yuri-chan?"

Yuriko nodded, "Yeah, I had to bring him his lunch with tea to him in the projection room." She said

"Then where were the rest of you?" Megure asked

"We were both watching the movie." The manager answered

"If the two of you worked together, then it would become simple." Stated Megure

"S-Sir! What?" said the shocked manager.

"I think it's impossible." Interjected Toshiyuki, "I have our alibis on this camera." He said as he pulled out the camera he was using earlier.

"Digital camera?" Megure asked as he took it and looked shocked, "Could this be a photo of the case?" as he looked at it and saw the hanging shadow on the screen in the picture.

"Yes, I took it by coincidence. These scene has been with me since childhood, so I wanted to take a picture of it from this theater." The teen said

"But…If you took it right after the crime,…this sort of picture can be…" Megure trailed off.

"If you think so, then look at the pictures before that one. I took a series of pictures, from the same position. I think it will be good evidence that I was in that sit the entire time." The teen said

Megure didn't look convinced, "This is a digital camera. It's easy to add shadow to stored images."

"I don't think that's the case." Interjected Conan, "Let me look." The glasses wearing boy said as he took the camera swiftly from Megure's hand.

Megure leaned down and looked as Conan spoke, "Look here, the manager and Mitsuhiko can be seen in the same one." Conan continued to point out a few of the pictures were each of the Detective Boys could be seen.

"So he could have known we were coming today, so they weren't prepared." Conan said with a smile.

Naruto nodded in understanding and would have to look into studying this world's technology more.

"R-right." Replied Megure

Megure looked through a few more photo's and turned it towards the manager, "In these the manager disappeared. Why did you leave your seat?" Megure asked, "It seemed you were heading away bathroom."

The elderly manager looked closer, "Ah, I went to check on the air conditioner."

"Air conditioner?" Megure asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, it was blowing more than usual."

"Ah, I noticed that too. That's why I went to the bathroom." Said Mitsuhiko

"And where are the controls for the air conditioner?" Megure asked

The manager pointed, "The the right-hand side of the theater. It's near the stairs, once you walk out the door."

"This isn't the time to be talking about the air conditioner." Said Yuriko

"Isn't the problem about if this is a murder or suicide?" Minoru asked in agreement.

"Then can you two take me to the projection room where you two were doing the time of the incident?" Megure asked

"Eh, alright." Answered Minoru

The Detective boys followed and listened in through the door, what the adults were talking about as Ai and Naruto hanged back, but he did send some chakra to his ear to listen too.

Minoru had said that he was working in the room when the shadow showed up and stated the clerk girl could vouch for that due to her being in the room right next to the projection room setting up lunch.

"Hm, then I guess it really was a suicide…" Megure mumbled

Conan gave a small laugh, "I just thought of something."

"Something?" Megure asked

"Yep. Sometimes a movie is shown in two different parts. One part is shown here… 'He pointed at one projector' and the other part is shown there." He said as he pointed to another projector.

"I see! This way the first part runs seamlessly, and when the second transits the body is there. That means the body could be prepared beforehand." Megure said in understanding.

"Really, that's interesting." Conan said

"That's an incredible idea boy. Some movie theaters use this method. But if it was transited, there would be a cut in the film." Minoru commented, "Inspector-san, you can check yourself, no such cut exists in this film." He said to Megure

"Anyway boy. After I came back with lunch only one projector was running." Yuriko said to Conan.

"Eh, is that so?" Conan said

"When did you come back?" Megure asked

"Well, I remember it was about five minutes before the commotion began, so I guess 12:40." Yuriko said

The Detective Boys looked around the room and commented that it was really dirty and Minoru said since it was the last day he didn't feel like cleaning.

"Anyway, the police will need that film roll." Megure said

"Alright, go ahead." Minoru said with a nod.

As everyone shuffled out the room, Mitsuhiko ran out first and stood near the door. As the adults walked away, Mitsuhiko spoke up.

"I saw it."

The adults turned around and Conan asked him, "What did you see Mitsuhiko?"

"That…That lady. She was right outside the women's bathroom looking in the mirror!" as he pointed at the clerk girl.

"What…what did you say?" asked a confused Megure

"Hey, when was that?" Conan asked

"It was right before the shadow appeared." He answered

"Is that right? That means, after taking the lunch upstairs, you weren't in the break room the entire time!" Megure said to the girl.

"M-My contacts." She said nervously.

"Your contacts?"

"One of my contact lenses was falling out, so I ran to the bathroom to fix it. It didn't take longer than a minute so I didn't mention it."

Megure hummed and turned to Minoru, "Did you know anything about this?"

"No, I was in the projection room. Don't worry about that. When the shadow appeared, she was with me."

Both Conan and Naruto narrowed their eyes to this.

"Inspector!" Officer Takagi said running up to his superior.

"hm?"

"The deceased Haruta, owed a large sum of money. Even if he sold this place he wouldn't have been able to cover his debts. His neighbors have said that he already used the money in his savings account."

"I see. The possibility of suicide is more likely." Megure said as he rubbed his chin.

"That's rather troublesome. Why commit suicide and cause more trouble?" Yuriko asked

"Hey!" The elderly man whispered harshly to her.

Naruto knew the look of suicide and the actions of one who would try it and to him that man didn't seem the type to do it.

Mitsuhiko and Genta said they were going outside to get some fresh air and Conan walked off saying he had to go to the bathroom, Ayumi as well.

Naruto had a frown on his face as he tried to think.

Ai walked up to him and poked his forehead, "What are you thinking about?" she asked

"Something doesn't feel right. My gut is telling me that this was murder and not a suicide." The blonde replied.

"Why is that?" she asked

"He didn't look like the suicide type." Naruto said as he tried to think more into it.

Ai shrugged, "I'm going to go look for Conan."

Naruto nodded.

A few minutes later Naruto saw Conan running and he followed.

"What did you find out?" Naruto asked as he kept pace with Conan.

"The screen." Was all Conan said.

They each ran into the theater and Conan jumped over the seat where Haruta was sitting.

Naruto looked and saw a few cigarette butts on the ground.

Conan took out a handkerchief and picked an unfinished cigarette up.

Naruto turned and saw a footprint on the seat in front of Haruta's. And Conan saw it too.

"You got a look in your eye that says you know something Conan, spill." Naruto said

Conan smirked at Naruto, "What do you think so far?" he asked

Naruto frowned, "My gut says that it was murder and it had something to do with the theater lighting. But that's all I got so far."

'Pretty good for a kid.' Conan thought in shock.

"Go meet up with Haibara and the others." Conan said

Naruto shook his head, "No can do, can't let you have all the fun Specs." He said with a grin.

"Specs?" Conan asked with his head tilted.

"Yeah, I thought it would be a good nickname for you." Naruto said with a shrug.

Conan sweat dropped, "Anything more original?"

"Nope." He said as he walked with him.

Naruto leaned against a wall as Conan talked to a large bald man with a mustache and glasses, from what he learned, his name was Professor Agasa.

Conan stared to whisper to the professor when the rest of the Detective Boys were leaning in to listen.

Ayumi put her hands to her hips, "Again. It's always Conan-kun who knows everything and you even got Naruto-kun in on it too."

"How selfish." Genta said

"His friends will leave him." Mitsuhiko said

"You figured out something?" Ai asked as she leaned against the same wall as Naruto.

"Bits and pieces, but Specs seems to have gotten it." Naruto replied

"Specs?" she asked with confusion.

"His new and probably forever nickname from me." Naruto said with a grin as he heard Conan trying to appease the rest of the group by saying they could help too.

Ai's face twitched a bit till she started to giggle, "Oh that is great."

"I know and it suits him too." Naruto added with a snicker.

**0 In the theater 0**

The Inspector was about to rule it a suicide, when suddenly the lights went out.

Everyone in the theater turned to a knocking sound and saw Agasa in the projection room.

"Agasa-san!" Megure said in shock.

"Wait, what are you doing up there?" asked Yuriko

"You ask what I'm doing? I am repeating the trick the murderer has conspired today." Agasa answered

"Trick?"

"Exactly. The murderer used the screening's darkness to kill Haruta-san. And then used the projection room as an alibi. Furuhashi-san, the trick is by you." Agasa said, but it was really Conan using his voice changing bowtie.

That shocked everybody.

"Wait a second, oji-san. When the shadow appeared, I was with Furuhashi-san in the projection room. You weren't even here, how would you know …" Yuriko stated

"I heard the entire thing from the kids. Right Conan-kun?" Agasa answered

"Yep." Conan answered as he showed his face from the tiny window.

"Even so, the shadow appeared when Furuhashi-san and I were in the projection room." Yuriko said again

"Oh, you mean like this?" Agasa said as he turned on the projector and another shadow appeared on the screen.

"Oh, it's Genta-kun's head!" Ayumi pointed out.

The adults turned to see Genta hanging by a rope that he was holding on to.

"Geez, that trick wouldn't work." Yuriko said in a huff, "He hung himself during the movie."

"Wrong!" Ayumi countered

"Genta-kun has been up here for awhile." Mitsuhiko added as both he and Ayumi stood on the latter next to Genta.

"Hey hey, stop lying. If he was up there since the beginning, we would have noticed." Toshiyuki

Agasa gave a laugh, "That would be true…If the window wasn't blocked out." he said as he covered the projection window with a cover that was in front of Genta.

"This makes it difficult to notice the body hanging there." The professor explained

"Hold on, Agasa-san. Everyone acknowledged that the body was swinging. How did the body suddenly start moving?" Megure asked with a confused look.

Agasa laughed again, "Good Genta-kun, Mitsuhiko-kun, Ayumi-kun. It's your turn."

The kids nodded.

Both Ayumi and Mitsuhiko jumped onto Genta and started to swing.

"Hey hey." Megure said in fear for the kid's safety.

"The weight of those three nearly equals an adult." Agasa stated

"Wh-what are you doing?" Megure asked

"Alright, Haibara, Naruto, you know what to do." Conan said over his DB badge walkie talkie.

"Yes yes, just let me adjust it." Said Haibara

"Got it Specs." Naruto answered over Ai's badge

Conan sweat dropped, 'He isn't going to stop calling me that is he?' he questioned himself.

Ai changed the dial for the air conditioner and Naruto flipped it on.

Suddenly the A/C blasted and the kids started to swing.

"That is…" Megure trailed off.

"This is a large, sealed area. If the speed of the wind is adjusted to a certain point…The body will begin to sway with the wind's speed increase. The manager mentioned early the wind was stronger than usual. Right, manager?" Agasa asked

"Eh…Yeah." The manager said with a nod.

"Oh, jii-san. Let's suppose I knew how to hang him and make the body sway. Yet you have forgotten the most important thing. How exactly the body suddenly appeared on the screen. If he was there from the beginning everyone would have noticed. If the window was blocked, the movie wouldn't project. So you see, I wouldn't be able to show the movie." Minoru said in confidence.

"It's simple. For just that. There." And the movie started playing with the swaying shadow of the kids.

"Impossible! How did you do that?" Yuriko asked

"First here and then there." Agasa said as he switched the projection from one window to the next.

"Could it be that oji-san…" Yuriko trailed off.

"Cut the movie into separate parts, showing it on different projectors." The manager finished for her.

"That's unforgivable. I have to see this for myself, that's important film!" Yuriko said as she and the rest of the people in the theater ran up to the projection room.

"Hold it, that's enough!" Yuriko said as she opened the door.

"Hm, only one projector is running." Agasa said

Yuriko walked over to the second projector, "There's no film in the other projector." She stated

"How did you do it?" Megure asked

Agasa gave another laugh, "Please check the projector yourself."

Megure walked over to the projector and was shocked; he saw a small mirror reflecting the light of the projector.

"A mirror?" he said

"Exactly. I found this in the other room." Agasa said as he adjusted the projector, "It was already broken. If you turn it slightly 'And he did' The light will be reflected to the other mirror and then broadcasted." Agasa said, as another mirror was on the wall next to one of the projection windows. "By doing this, the dead-body is concealed. Also, the film remains intact. The direction of the projection can be changed easily."

Megure rubbed his chin in understanding.

"That shows, the mirror's angle is manipulated to conceal the body. Until the right time."

Everyone looked at Minoru.

"And then there is Haruta-san's tobacco from the screening. They fell directly from the middle of the seat, this is predictable. Since he wanted to block the light, he was always seated below the projection." Agasa finished

"Is that true, Furuhashi-kun?" the elderly manager asked.

Minoru looked away.

"This was the method you used, Furuhashi-san. You used Tomosato-san by having her buy you something. Then there is no one in your way of the crime, making it easily done. While the movie was showing you ran to the A/C room. To change the speed of the air. While you did all of this, the move is shown from the other window. And then you entered the theater, using the rope on the floor to kill Haruta-san. And then hanging him in front of the blocked window. All by yourself. Then you returned to the projection room, to wait for Tomosato-san. You then proceeded to remove the object blocking the original window. And then the mirror from the projector. The shadow of the body would appear on the movie screen. You made sure Tomosato-san was there as a witness. This provided your seamless alibi." Conan said with Agasa's voice standing behind the professor.

"B-But the reason I went shopping…I forgot the lunches." Yuriko argued

"If you hadn't forgotten, Furuhashi-san would have asked you to buy tea nonetheless. You made sure the manager remained in the theater today; you wanted someone able to identify the exact scene. He made sure no one suspected the manager, so he used this method."

"But…But this is just guessing." Yuriko continued to argue.

"Then you may be interested in Ide-san's digital camera. Look at the image of the dead body."

Toshiyuki looked at his camera and was shocked, "It's out of focus."

"Exactly. A side-effect of the trick. When the mirror was removed, the distance between the projector and the screen was changed. Causing the blur-effect. Then, the projector competes with the lens to focus the image. It takes time to recover from the effect. After its change becomes blurred. In that instant Furuhashi-san, before the lights are off, the focus is usually affixed."

"But it's difficult to focus on moving objects." Megure said as he looked at the camera.

"Even if it is a moving image, the screen doesn't blur. Even if the image keeps moving…the screen does not blur. The seats are clearly visible." Agasa said as Megure looked at the camera some more.

"R-Right, when the shadow appeared I touched the projector. At that time the shadow offset a bit." Yuriko said

"Why did you go to the bathroom for your contacts?" Agasa asked the girl who looked shocked.

"Even after you brought back the lunches and started to boil the water for the tea. What is the real reason you went to the bathroom."

"Because…" Yuriko trailed off.

Minoru sighed, "The mirror in the break-room disappeared, right?" he asked

Yuriko gasped.

"Sorry, Yuri-chan. Thanks for the help."

"Furuhashi-san…" she muttered

"Furuhashi-kun, I can't believe you." The manager said with some disappointment.

"Yeah, please excuse my behavior." Minoru said as he looked at the floor.

"I just can't believe you did such a thing here…I thought you truly liked this movie theater…" The manager shook his head.

"Yeah…I didn't want to do it here…I reminded myself many times…I just couldn't resist." Minoru said with shame.

He started to tell how much he enjoyed looking through the projection window, seeing the customer's happy faces. And because of Haruta, people had stopped coming and made him pay for destroying what he had cherished most.

Megure had escorted the man out of the theater, but before he asked if he could roll the last film for the Detective Boys, which the Inspector allowed.

**0 Sato residence 0**

Naruto walked through the door and took off his shoes, "I'm home!" he said

"Welcome back. How was the movie?" Miwako asked with an apron on.

"The Conan effect happened." He replied

Miwako blinked, "The Conan effect?"

Naruto nodded, "There was a murder at the theater."

Miwako looked shocked, it was her day off and now she finds out there was a murder that took place near him.

"Tell me what happened Naruto-kun." Miwako said as she tapped her foot.

Naruto explained the victim, method, and reason behind it along with his and the Detective Boys involvement.

"I just don't understand Kaa-san, sure the man was a thug and a jerk, but to kill him?" Naruto said in a sad tone.

Miwako nodded, "There are strange people in this world we live in Naruto-kun."

"I want to change that." Naruto said

Miwako raised an eyebrow, "How would you?"

Naruto thought about it and smiled at his mother, "I want to be a detective like you and stop the bad guys."

Miwako blinked and ruffled his hair with a smile on her face, "That sounds wonderful Naruto-kun. How about I take you to the station on your next day off and you can see how the Tokyo Police handle things?" she asked, as she wanted to help her son.

Naruto nodded, "Thanks Kaa-san and I promise I'll be the best detective out there!"

Both shared a laugh and Naruto started to help her with dinner.

**0**

**(1)- The Blue Castle Investigation Case.**

**0**

**This chapter is Episodes 138 and 139 of Detective Conan.**

**Thank you for being patient with me for this.**

**Personally, I can't wait to work on the fourth movie, if you know what I mean.**

**Also, can anyone tell me, when the fourth movie takes place in the plotline, or at least a rough estimate. **

**R&R, no flames, peace off!**


	3. SOS Ayumi! Surprise guest star?

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Detective Conan, please support the official release.

Challenge by Agurra of the Darkness

Co-written by: Masamune X23

**0**

Naruto was rolling in his sleep, covered in sweat as he was suffering from a nightmare.

"No…no leave me alone, I…I'm…not a demon."

His eyes shot open and he screamed as he got up, "AHHH!"

He was breathing heavy and looked at the clock, 3:48 A.M.

Miwako came through the door in alert with her gun in hand as she scanned the room.

After she looked, she walked up to Naruto and sat on his bed, "Are you alright Naruto-kun?" she asked softly.

Naruto looked around his room as he calmed down and wiped the sweat off his forehead, "Yeah, I'm fine." He replied quickly.

"Was it a nightmare?" she continued

Naruto turned his head away and looked down at the floor.

Miwako sighed and gently wrapped her arms around him as she hugged him tightly, "It's alright. It was just a dream." She whispered softly.

Naruto was released from the hug as he turned to look at his Kaa-san, "Still doesn't change the fact that I had to deal with it while growing up." He muttered in a sad tone.

Miwako frowned, 'So that's what it was about.'

She couldn't blame Naruto for how he was feeling; she still remembered how she saw him in the hospital. He was practically at death's door and yet it seemed Kami had guided him to stay alive and recover.

She still couldn't believe someone could be so cruel or psycho enough to badly hurt an innocent child and leave them to die in a cold alley.

She scooted him over and laid herself next to him under his blanket as she re-wrapped her arms around him.

"What are you doing?" he asked in confusion.

"My Kaa-san did this for me when I had nightmares as a child, so I'm going to it for you." She said in a gentle comforting tone with a small smile.

Naruto stared at her and returned the smile as he lay back in his bed and moved closer to her.

Naruto blushed a bit when he felt his Kaa-san's chest on his back but it vanished when he began to feel warmth and comfort that made him feel safe as he cuddled closer to his Kaa-san.

They both needed some sleep because in a few hours, the Tokyo Police Department was about to be hit by a visiting maelstrom.

**0 Sunday, 7:30 A.M. 0**

Naruto was dressed in his usual attire as he got ready for the day.

He was looking forward to seeing the Police Department as he wanted to see where he might work one day on the future when he realizes his dream of becoming a detective. He was also anxious to see other cool detectives like his Kaa-san.

Miwako was in a red shirt, purple jacket, white skirt, and a pair of black shoes.

"Naruto-kun! You ready?" Miwako shouted from the door.

"Yeah, just getting my watch!" Naruto replied as he put on the watch he was given by Conan, since he was now an official Detective Boy, he had gotten a wristwatch flashlight and a DB walkie-talkie badge, which he had clipped to his pocket.

He had to admit that Conan's friend Agasa certainly knew how to make some unique cool things.

He walked out the door and started to head down to the parking lot as his Kaa-san locked the apartment and joined him walking to her car.

He headed towards a red colored, series 6 Mazda (Ẽfini) RX-7.

Naruto really didn't know much about cars, but he definitely knew that his Kaa-san had a cool one and red was a color close to orange which made it cooler in his opinion.

He sat in the passenger seat while his Kaa-san drove to Police HQ and he eagerly waited to see the place she worked in.

Eventually they arrived as Naruto saw the building they were heading towards as he awed at the size of it.

It was a large building that was very wide showing it could house over hundreds if not a thousand officers plus it looked well-fortified at the entrance with the guards and security cameras watching for anything suspicious.

Miwako drove past the building as they went into a parking lot next door and she parked her car in her usual spot as she and Naruto got out and headed to the building.

Naruto noticed how everyone was greeting his mother and how…close, some the male officers were when greeting her.

He didn't like it one bit as he narrowed his eyes at some of them.

There by the entrance was Yumi.

"Ah, Miwako, Naruto-kun, how are we this morning?" she asked cheerfully.

"Good." Miwako answered

"Same as always Yumi-nee-san." Naruto replied with a smile seeing his baby sitter and sister figure.

"Well come on, there are a lot of people wanting to meet you Naruto-kun." Yumi said in a mischievous tone.

'Yeah I just bet they are.' he thought. "I bet it's the other traffic cops who you told about me." Naruto said with a deadpan expression.

"Hahaha, I have no idea what you mean." Yumi said trying to cover up the fact that that's what she did.

Both Naruto and Miwako knew that she did.

As they walked around, Naruto spotted and recognized the detective from the theater murder case.

"Hello detective Takagi." Naruto said in an average tone.

The young detective turned to see the little blonde boy that was with the Detective Boys, "Ah, you were with Conan-kun and the other kids the other day. What are you doing here?" he asked.

The other detectives in the room were interested to since he was with Sato.

Naruto smiled seeing them listening in and decided to have some fun, "Well I don't think I really introduced myself the other day with the case and all, but I'm Sato Naruto, it's a pleasure to meet my Kaa-san's colleagues." He said with a small bow and a hidden grin at knowing how they'll react.

The entire room was silenced by that as the officers were now gawping.

"Ka-Kaa-san!" Takagi shouted in surprise with his face mirroring the others.

Naruto grinned seeing the panicking faces of the male officers; it helped brighten his day already.

"Yep." Naruto replied with a foxy grin on his face.

"I had no idea you had a son detective Sato?" said the cool voice of Shiratori Ninzaburo as walked towards them.

Naruto turned to face the voice and saw a man in a blue suit and a grey tie. His hair was smooth on one side but was puffy towards the front.

Just from hearing the sound of his voice, Naruto could tell he wasn't going to like him. The guy spoke like one of those guys who think their smooth but weren't in reality.

"I didn't know you were even married? Who is the lucky man?" he asked curiously.

"I'm actually adopted from the good of Miwako-san's heart detective-san. I already see her as my mother." Naruto said in a kind tone as he looked at Miwako as he said and Miwako looked back with a smile as she was happy to hear Naruto thought of her as his mother, even if she wasn't by blood.

Naruto let out a small chuckle seeing the relief on their faces. Oh, he was going to have fun with all of them if they even thought they had a chance to get together with his Kaa-san.

He clearly saw that they seemed to have crushes on his Kaa-san and it's now up to him to do his new job.

To destroy their hopes of being with his Kaa-san and to install fear from what he'll do to them should they try and move in on her while he's around.

"That is indeed kind of her Naruto-kun, as expected of the beautiful detective Sato." He said with a flirtatious smile that began to annoy Naruto.

"Well now that all the commotion is over, let's take that tour Naruto-kun." Miwako said wondering what the big deal was that she adopted Naruto.

Naruto nodded and walked with Sato as she took him to her desk to see where she worked. Naruto sat on her chair as he saw a pile of paper files, he noticed one on the top and took it to open, and he read the name and saw it was his.

"Kaa-san." He muttered in a low tone, he knew that they would never find the ones who hurt him and left him for dead, but he still though it was very nice of her to try.

Miwako walked over and saw the file he was looking at. She frowned as she quietly took it and placed on the pile again, "There weren't much leads in finding your attacker, but I'm still looking into it." Miwako said in a quiet tone as she was still determined to bring the one who hurt Naruto to justice.

Naruto flashed her a small smile, "You don't have to do this you know. It's been weeks and there aren't any real leads to it Kaa-san, so don't beat yourself up looking into it." He replied as he hoped his Kaa-san would stop her endless pursuit towards a person he knows she'll never be able to find.

Miwako frowned as she heard Naruto telling her to quit her hunt for the criminal that injured him, she would consider that, but she'd rather continue trying, even if there wasn't anything to go by. There have been cases like these were the criminals had avoided being identified for weeks, months and some for even a few years. She just hoped they could at least find a clue to whoever was responsible for hurting Naruto so he could finally put his nightmare behind him.

It was one of the curses of knowing that the criminal who caused your pain was still out there.

Like how she lost her first partner Matsuda during the bombing case. She just knew his killer was still out there but there hasn't been any sign of him and she had a feeling he had decided to lay low and live normally now that he had killed an officer in revenge for his deceased accomplice who he supposedly blamed on them when he was run over by a truck.

She still secretly kept the last text message Matsuda sent her before he died on that Ferris wheel when he tried diffusing the bomb.

Matsuda had written his true feelings for her in his dying text message which hurt her even more as she believed she felt the same way.

For weeks after his death she cried at home mourning her lost love interest.

Naruto noticed his mother looking dazed and seemingly getting upset as he could almost swear he saw tears beginning to form in her eyes.

"Kaa-san, are you okay?" Naruto asked with worry for his Kaa-san.

Sato broke out of her daze as she saw her son looking at her with worry and concern for her. She wiped her eyes and just gave a small smile, "Yes, I'm fine Naruto-kun." she reassured as she gave him a small hug before telling him to get up so she could show him more of the building.

They continued walking through the building till Naruto saw a familiar man, "Inspector Megure." He said

Megure turned and saw Naruto and smile, "Hello Naruto-kun. Taking a tour?" he asked

"Yes, Naruto-kun said he wanted to be a detective when he was older, so I thought I would show him how we worked sir." Miwako said

Megure gained a surprised look, "Well Naruto-kun I hope to see you here when your older. I'm sure you would be a great detective." He said

Naruto nodded, "Thank you inspector and hopefully you won't be retired by then cause I plan to show you how great I detective I'll be when I grow up."

Megure chuckled, "Oh don't worry about that cause I don't plan on retiring anytime soon, after all no one else does this job as good as I do and I still got more than a few years left in me before I even consider retirement."

Naruto laughed back "Good, because I'd hate to be working under a stranger instead of you."

The tour continued as Sato showed Naruto all the different offices, waiting rooms, interrogating rooms, conference rooms and the storage rooms for all acquired materials from cases.

She was careful when she showed Naruto the dangerous materials like guns, chemicals, ropes, needles, bullets and other many deadly weapons.

When the tour was done Naruto was sitting near Miwako's desk while his Kaa-san was working. He looked as she went though some files and took notes.

He turned around and saw the pompous officer from earlier going to the bathroom.

Naruto got an evil looking grin as he decided to have some fun. So he quietly took a key from his Kaa-san's desk as he snuck away from his Kaa-san as he began making his move.

He quickly went to the storage room where they kept all the confiscated material and used the key he took from his mother to open the door and take a few things from it while hiding them from view so no one saw him with them.

Six minutes later there was a loud scream.

The officers ran to the bathroom and froze in shock at what they were seeing.

There in the stall they saw assistant inspector Shiratori being hung by a rope from the bathroom ceiling while being dunked into a toilet that was recently flushed.

The sight made some of them laugh inwardly as they've never seen Shiratori in this kind of predicament.

It was truly amusing, strange and maybe cruel, but amusing none the less.

Naruto walked in and gasped, "What the, what on earth happened here?" he asked

The other officers however didn't know how to answer that at all, but they helped the senior detective down as someone handed him a towel to dry off from the toilet water.

Shiratori had no idea what happened to him all of a sudden or how and when, but as he looked at Naruto his instincts instantly pointed at him as the culprit. He just knew the blonde boy had something to do with it. His detective instincts just knew it and they were almost never wrong!

An officer spoke up, "Hey Shiratori, what happened to you?" he asked the question on everyone's mind.

Shiratori looked towards the officer, "I have no idea, all I know is that I'm just coming out of the stall to wash my hands and the next thing I know, I'm being suspended from a rope while being given an involuntary swirly as I dangled from the ceiling." He said with a tone of disgust in his voice as he did not enjoy what happened to him.

The officers were puzzled by what happened until Sato noticed something.

"Hey isn't that one of the ropes that was being keep in the evidence storage room?" she questioned.

Shiratori raised his eyebrows in surprise as he looked at the rope closely and saw that she was right as he looked at the noticeable scratch and blood marks on it.

"Yes it is, this is one of the ropes that was kept in the evidence room after the case was solved." he said as he now wondered how on earth Naruto was able to get it since the room was always kept locked after every use.

Yumi however looked at Naruto and noticed the slight smirk hidden on his face and smiled as she held in a laugh, 'Why that sneaky little devil.' Yumi though as she now knew for certain that Naruto was somehow responsible for Shiratori's embarrassing situation except she also didn't know how he did it.

Eventually everyone was told to get back to work while Shiratori went to a different bathroom to clean himself up.

Although when he got to it he carefully looked inside it for any traps before he saw it was clear.

Naruto walked back to Miwako's desk and saw Yumi there. They gave each other a quick low-five and snickered.

Sato heard and looked at them, "Is something funny?" she asked

Both Naruto and Yumi turned to her, "Actually were just still laughing at what happened to Shiratori-san. You have to admit Kaa-san that it was pretty funny seeing him hang over a toilet like a bag of dirty laundry over a washing machine." Naruto said in a strange metaphor he made up.

Yumi just laughed more as she heard Naruto's metaphor since she knew he meant Shiratori was the dirty laundry and the toilet was the washer he though needed to wash him.

Sato giggled, "Well I'll admit it was amusing but it wasn't exactly a nice thing to do."

In reality she thought it was very funny, but she was trying to be the mature adult.

"Still I wonder who could've done that?" she questioned

Yumi however turned her eyes to Naruto discreetly as she contained to urge to tell her what her new son did.

She could've told Miwako, but she didn't want Naruto to get in trouble nor did she want the fun he's bringing to headquarters to end so quickly after she got a good laugh from his first prank.

After all, today was going to be a very funny day.

**0**

Takagi carefully walked to his car as he looked around in all directions for anything that stood out as his shift had finally ended much to his relief.

Today was, by far, the craziest, weirdest and frightening day in the Tokyo Police Department in possibly all off its history.

The prank that had happened to Shiratori was beyond funny in his opinion. But the multitude of pranks that happened afterwards was a completely different story that now had him tensed and feeling slightly paranoid.

Pranks ranging from itching powder being sprayed on the replacement cloths in the locker rooms, to people having their butt's glued to their chairs had happened and that was just the top of the barrel.

These pranks kept happening all day and they seemed to be targeted to officers who only had one thing in common: they all held affection to the one and only Miss Sato Miwako.

After the first few pranks, the officers knew it was Sato's new son Naruto that did it but they just couldn't catch him in the act!

Every single time they thought they had him; he was either near Miwako or the traffic officer Yumi.

Some of them even secretly examined the used material for fingerprints or DNA but they couldn't find anything to connect Naruto as the culprit.

It also didn't help that Yumi seemed to know it was him, but said nothing for her own amusement and the young blonde's mother was oblivious to his actions while Naruto continued behaving around her like a well-mannered boy.

Truly the boy knew how to please his mother with his act.

Takagi was still a bit skeptical in believing Naruto was behind it since he thought he was just a kid, but he couldn't deny that it was peculiar how these pranks started when Naruto came to visit.

Although he was one of the main guys who questioned how it was possible for a child to get the drop on all of them without being caught in the act was what truly baffled him and all of them.

They wanted to tell Sato how they knew Naruto was the one behind the pranks, but without any proof they knew Sato would get angry at them for accusing her son and having nothing to prove it, which would make them look like the bad guys.

Shiratori even said Naruto's mischief and deception was starting to remind him of the legend of the God Loki from Norse mythology who was known as the greatest trickster of all time.

As Takagi slowly crept to his car and put the key in, he twisted it and quickly opened the door to get in, but something sprung out from his car and nailed him right in the jewels.

It seemed to be a softball that was set up by a sling shot to fire at him as soon as he opened the door.

He gave a silent scream while having a pained expression on his face as he clutched his private area and fell to his knees and fell face first in the driver's seat that just so happened to have a pie there for his face to land in.

He also noted that it was apple flavored before he continued to lay there moaning in pain.

The legend of the Loki of Tokyo had officially been born that very day and all officers knew that when Naruto comes to visit them in HQ that none of them were safe from him.

**0 With Naruto and Yumi 0**

"Don't you think that was a bit much Naruto-kun?" Yumi asked, honestly she liked Takagi, but Naruto seemed to be punishing all of Miwako's admires today and in quite a few inventive ways as well while making sure none of them can be proven to have come from him.

She still found it absolutely hilarious though.

Naruto shrugged, "Hey I used a softball instead of a baseball, besides he'll be fine. It's nothing that an ice pack and a day of laying still can't help with. I just wanted to install some fear in them and let them know that my Kaa-san's not available on the dating market and even if she was I'm not going to make it easy for them." He said with a grin as he enjoyed his day of touring, meeting new people and showing those morons how he won't let them try and ask his Kaa-san out.

Naruto was glad he learned about how people could be tracked by finger prints, locks of hair, blood stain or piece of skin otherwise he would've been proven to be the culprit.

Luckily he used gloves when he took the tools and washed his hands and gloves to avoid leaving skin traces.

Yumi laughed and ruffled Naruto's golden locks, much to his dismay.

"Easy there _Loki_, no need to go so far…yet." She said grinning as she knew things were going to be interesting each time Naruto came to visit and was around.

Naruto looked confused "Loki? Who's that?"

Yumi giggled at Naruto's cluelessness, it was always so cute how he was oblivious or clueless to some things.

"I don't know the whole history but they say Loki was a Norse God who was known for his deception and trickery, hence why the guys you pranked are calling you that."

Naruto just smirked at her as he liked the title he was given, it definitely suited him because there's no one who's more unpredictable than him.

**0 The next day 0**

Naruto had been invited to Prof. Agasa's house.

While the professor himself was typing away on his computer, the other kids and Conan were playing old maid where Genta kept losing since he apparently didn't know the meaning of the phrase 'poker face' as Mitsuhiko once again avoided the joker card Genta was holding and completed a pair to win the round and leave Genta as the loser of the game.

Naruto and Ai on the other hand were discussing psychology since Naruto had started to take a great interest in it. Ai seemed to be enjoying her discussions with Naruto.

Naruto was still of course working on the 'Conan Effect' theory as it did hold some merit.

"What I'm saying is that it's best to get a witness testimony as fast as possible since, the shorter of the event happening, the more details a witness can remember due short term memory. The longer the time it takes, the more details they forget and could very well change on a whim as the case is drawn out." Naruto said

Ai nodded to this, "That's true, as in a case in 1896, when Albert Von Schrenk-Notzing, a psychologist, was used as an expert witness and he argued that due to the publication; witnesses could not distinguish between what they actually saw and what had been reported in the press." The girl said in understanding.

Naruto nodded, "I read about that too. It was about a man accused of murdering three women, right?" he asked

Ai smirked, "Correct. Nice memory, whiskers." She said teasingly.

Naruto blinked at the nickname and smirked back, "Why thank you, Ai-chan."

It was Ai's turn to blink as she registered the suffix added to her name.

They heard the cheering of Conan and Mitsuhiko winning and the grumbling of Genta losing when they heard Mitsuhiko's voice.

"Would Haibara-san and Naruto-kun want to join in?" he asked

Ai shook her head, "Sorry, were busy talking about something." She stated

"Like what?" Genta asked curiously.

"Eye-witness memory and the timeframe of its accuracy and usage when not corrupted by outside sources." Naruto stated

That sentence easily went over Mitsuhiko and Genta head, but Conan blinked and looked at Ai and she nodded.

'Man, seems like we have a little prodigy on our hands.' Conan thought in interest as he glanced at Naruto.

"There were too many big words in that sentence." Genta mumbled and Mitsuhiko nodded to his statement.

"That's right, Conan-kun. Have you heard…About the burglary murder case from yesterday?" Mitsuhiko asked the glasses wearing boy.

Conan nodded, "Yeah. The owner of the French restaurant Lu Escargot was killed on the case, right?" the spectacled boy asked.

"Did you find out any details?" Mitsuhiko asked

"Yeah. Last night, I overheard a conversation between Inspector Megure and Mouri-san. They say the burglar brake into the victim's room in the afternoon and killed him while he was sleeping." Conan stated

Naruto and Ai walked over.

"The guy was a complete moron to rob a house in the afternoon." Naruto said off-handedly as he couldn't see the advantage in robbing a place during a sunny day instead of during the cover of the night.

"He must have thought that no one was home when he broke in." Ai suggested

"I believe so. The victim was bound and killed by a knife. The criminal probably needed to know the location of the items such as money. Then killed the victim just as he left." Conan said

Naruto nodded, "Most likely the murder was to keep his identity a secret." He said in a monotone voice.

"My guess exactly." Conan said nodding, "You don't seem so surprised hearing this Naruto. Can I assume you heard this from your Kaa-san?" he asked with interest.

Naruto grinned at Conan, "Yep and unlike you, I didn't have to eavesdrop to get that information." He said in a teasing tone, which Conan gave a light glare at.

"That's brutal!" Genta said as he had a look of fright.

"An evil offender. I guess this isn't one for the Detective Boys." Mitsuhiko said in a sad tone.

"Of course not!" Agasa shouted, "You children shouldn't be discussing murder cases anyway. You should talk about children's things, like dreams." He said

"Kaa-san is a detective professor Agasa, so it isn't really all that big of a deal for me. My dream is being a detective too." Naruto said cheekily.

Agasa gave the blonde a glare, but Ai and Conan laughed a bit at the comeback.

Ayumi, who was sitting next to Genta and not looking so well asked something, "Hey professor, do you have throat medicine?" she asked weakly.

"You have a sore throat?" Agasa asked as he walked over to the girl.

"That's right, Ayumi-chan! Your voice is weak today." Mitsuhiko commented

"Open your mouth so I can see." Instructed the professor.

The good professor inspected Ayumi's throat, "Hm, it definitely seems swollen." He said as he placed his hand on her forehead, "And you have a fever."

"Maybe the flu." Ai commented adding her two cents

"If you have the flu, eat some eel with rice." Genta commented

'Does this baka always think with his stomach.' Naruto thought as he looked at the larger boy with a sweatdrop.

"Genta-kun, you're different from her." Mitsuhiko stated plainly.

"Ayumi-chan, you should go home and rest. We'll all go home together." Conan suggested

"That's right, get some rest at home." Mitsuhiko commented

"That's right." Genta said nodding.

"Good idea. Wait here while I get the car." Agasa said as he went to get his keys.

**0 The next day, Teitan Elementary School 0**

"Before we start today's lesson, I just received a call from Ayumi-chan's mother. Ayumi-chan is sick and can't come today." The teacher announced

"I knew it." Mitsuhiko whispered in worry.

"Why didn't she have her eel with rice?" Genta muttered

"I'm not that surprised." Naruto muttered as he said alone at his desk.

"She really did look sick yesterday." Conan said under his breath.

Ai, sitting next to him, gained a sly look, "Hey, worried?" she asked in a teasing tone.

"Of course." Conan argued

"Eh, hard to believe your compassion." Ai commented off handedly.

"Shut up." Conan muttered

**0 After class 0**

As the class ended, Naruto was once again surrounded by the girls in class.

"Naruto-kun, can I walk to music class with you?" a brown haired girl in braids asked

"No, he's going to walk me to class." Another girl with black hair wearing a hair clip argued

"Why would he do that when he can walk me to class!" another girl with dark brown hair in a ponytail exclaimed

"Sorry, but I'm going with the Detective Boys." Naruto said as he navigated around them.

"Mou, Haibara-san and Ayumi-chan are so lucky to have Naruto-kun around them." One of the girls complained, as they found out that the blonde they admired joined the detective kids group.

"I know." The others said in agreement with a tone of sadness as they all left.

"Hey let's all visit Ayumi at her house today when school ends." Genta said as Naruto walked to the group.

"Yes! She would be very happy." Mitsuhiko exclaimed

"Will she really?" Ai questioned

"Eh?" he exclaimed

"Girls hate to be seen when they don't look their cutest. Especially by boys they like." She said as she looked at Conan, who in turn sent her a look.

"I'm joking. Elementary school girls probably wouldn't care." Ai stated off-handedly.

"Ah, but Ai-chan always looks cute." Naruto said. As he could not, even for all of his intelligence, think of the consequences of that statement.

The group looked at him with raised eyebrows.

Ai blinked at him, while Conan grinned at Ai. She sent a glare at the bow-tie boy that clearly said, 'Say nothing'.

Naruto's fangirls had sadly heard this and glared at Ai with hate for getting the blonde of their affections attention.

Suddenly a melody started to play.

Conan blinked and took out his DB walkie-talkie as it seemed to be playing a melody.

The rest of the group listened in.

"It must be Ayumi-chan! She's playing that keyboard she has." Mitsuhiko exclaimed

"Ayumi-chan?" Conan asked through the radio.

"Today is the 5th, 10:30 AM." A mechanical voice said.

"Hm?" Conan thought as he looked at his watch.

"Today is the 5th, 10:30 AM." A mechanical voice said again.

"It's the Yaiba clock." Genta said with excitement.

"That's right. It's a Masked Yaiba clock. Professor Agasa bought them for everyone." Mitsuhiko said

"Just push the button on the head and it states the date and time." Genta explained

"Then why is Ayumi-chan not talking to us?" Mitsuhiko asked he hadn't heard a sound from Ayumi.

"Duh, remember her throat was sore, so she must have trouble talking." Naruto said

"Hello, Ayumi-chan? Ayumi-chan, can you not speak right now?" Conan asked through the radio, "Tap the badge once for yes and twice for no." He suggested

They heard one tap.

"Great, she means _yes_." Mitsuhiko said

"I guess she really can't talk." Genta said

"I think she's bored right now and just wanted to hear us." Mitsuhiko stated

"Yeah, maybe I should sing to her." Genta suggested

"Just a minute." Conan said as he started to gain a serious look

"Eh?" Genta and Mitsuhiko said

"Something's wrong." Conan said, "Just now the clock was five minutes late. Plus it's not the 5th today."

"Then…" Mitsuhiko trailed off.

"Maybe there's something wrong with Ayumi-chan that she wants us to know." Conan said nodding, "Ayumi-chan, is something wrong there?" he asked

There was a pause and silence answered.

"Ayumi-chan, tap once for yes and twice on the badge for no." Mitsuhiko instructed

Two taps answered.

"So it's a _no_. She's just bored and wanted to talk with us." Mitsuhiko concluded.

Naruto however still felt something was wrong as he thought about everything so far.

The wrong date with the alarm clock and the moment of silence before Ayumi answered the badge and it was only after Mitsuhiko mentioned again how to answer it.

"It's almost time for class; we'll talk to you later!" Genta said

One tap was heard.

'There was too long of a pause. Something's not right.' Naruto thought

The bell for the next class rung and Genta and Mitsuhiko rushed out for music class.

Ai saw Naruto's concerned look and commented, "Is something wrong whiskers?"

Naruto nodded, "I have that feeling again, like back in the theater." He said

"Feeling?" Conan asked in confusion.

"Whiskers here had a gut feeling of sorts during the theater case and felt it wasn't a suicide." Ai said shrugging

"And what are you feeling now Naruto?" Conan asked with interest as they walked to music class.

"The pause between Ayumi-san's answer and only after Mitsuhiko saying how to answer is what's making me feel uneasy about this." Naruto said as he sat in at his desk.

Conan nodded to this as he had an uneasy feeling about it also.

The music teacher started to speak, "As I'm sure most of you know, there will be a music concert contest in school next month. I really think group-B should play the piano. But we have to decide on the song today. Does anyone have any suggestion?" she asked and all the kids raised their hands.

"Are you worried about Ayumi-chan?" Ai asked Conan seeing his look.

"Yeah." He answered

"So am I. I'm beginning to think that Naruto-san's gut may be keener then we think." She said, "The melody that she first played…it seemed rather familiar. Do you have any clues?" she asked

Conan laughed nervously, "Not really." He said

"I think it was, Mi-Mi-Re-Do-Re." Ai said trying to remember.

Conan was busy contemplating why the date and time was wrong.

"The song's been chosen now." The teacher said as she sat at the piano, "Let's all sing together first." She encouraged

"Yes!" the class said

As she started to play, Ai listen closely as she had a strange feeling after the first verse was sung.

"It's snail!" she said to Conan, "She was telling us _Snail_!" she exclaimed

"I see!" Conan said in understanding, "Sensei, call the police! Ayumi-chan is in immediate danger!" Conan said as he rushed out of the classroom.

"I knew it!" Naruto said as he followed Conan out as he now believed he knew what was happening.

"Wait, Edogawa-kun, Sato-kun!" The teacher called out but it was too late as they were gone.

**0**

The two were rushing down the hallway when Naruto started to talk, "The song was about a snail, right? So she was talking about _Lu Escargot_, referring to our talk yesterday about it." Naruto concluded

Conan nodded, "And from the date and time, 5th, 10:30. From their respected words, 5 is Go, 10 is Tou, and 30 is Han. So she was saying 'Gotouhan', she means the event from the other day." Conan said, "At that time, the burglar must've answered as Ayumi-chan!" he finished

'Just be okay…Ayumi.' Conan thought as he and Naruto ran out of the school gate.

**0**

Both of them were running down the street till they hit a stop light. Conan was panting, but Naruto didn't even look winded.

"Man, you really need to keep yourself in better shape specs, I'm not even breaking a sweat yet." Naruto commented trying to lighten the mood.

Conan caught his breath and glared at him, "Well how are you in such good shape?" Conan asked sarcastically as he hated his child body during times like these.

He missed his adolescent body which was packed with good reflexes and his athletic trained body from all the times he played soccer.

"I do karate." The blonde said plainly with a grin.

The Moment Naruto uttered the word Karate Conan had gone just a little pale, "K…ka…karate?" Conan asked which Naruto nodded.

'Oh Kami-sama, please don't tell me he's another Ran.' Conan thought and prayed since he had enough of a scary time whenever Ran threatened him and Moure with her Karate.

"Just watch." Naruto said as he did a spin kick to a pole and added some chakra to his foot, thus causing it to get a small, but noticeable dent from the force of the kick he delivered to it.

Naruto turned to Conan and grinned, "Pretty cool huh?" he questioned.

Conan paled, 'Oh Kami-sama it's a boy version of Ran!' he cried inwardly at knowing that now there was a karate monster with him at school where he always thought he'd be safe from the one he already knew, but now there's a second one!

He also wondered what kind of classes allowed a kid to be able to bend a street pole with a single kick!

Before Conan could reply to Naruto the light turned green and the two rushed to Ayumi's apartment building.

Meanwhile people who passed by later were wondering what the heck happened to the pole Naruto had kicked.

'Damn, were running out of time.' He Conan thought with fear, 'Wait, when the burglar killed the owner…he only killed him right before he was leaving.' Conan gained a determined look.

Conan raced to a pay-phone and called Ayumi's house while using his voice-changing bow-tie and disguising his voice as professor Agasa.

Naruto was surprised when he heard Agasa's voice coming from Conan's bow tie. It was weird and he wondered why he had that to begin with.

He overheard him using Agasa's voice and talking about a large sum of money he was going to take to Ayumi's home.

Probably to entice the burglar to stay longer and thus keep Ayumi alive longer he thought since he too remembered that the burglar killed the owner of that restaurant before leaving.

Naruto flipped his black cell phone with a red spiral on the front closed just as Conan got off the phone.

"Hopefully Ayumi-san didn't have too many valuable things in her house and this causes the burglar to stay put till we get there." Naruto said

Conan nodded and saw Naruto's phone, "Who'd you call?" he asked

Naruto shook his head, "No one. Just checking the time." He stated as he also planned to talk to Conan later about his bow-tie.

As they entered the building, Conan quickly ran up to the intercom, typed Ayumi's apartment number in, and used his tie again, "It's me. Open the door." He said using Agasa's voice.

"Hope this works." Naruto muttered. It turned out to work as they were let in as he followed Conan to the elevator.

"It will." Conan said as he entered the apartment with a soccer ball.

Naruto stay behind the door while having it cracked out a bit to surprise attack the burglar if he needed to.

He focused some chakra to a seal on his right thigh and his tri-prong kunai knife with a kunai holder was attached to his thigh with his hand hovering over it if he needed it.

His mother had been unsure of letting him carry a knife type of weapon with him but only allowed it as long as he only used it for emergencies.

This clearly qualified as one as they saw the door open to reveal the burglar.

"Who are you? Where's the old man?" the burglar questioned Conan.

The burglar seemed to have on a blue jacket, blue pants, a biker's helmet and sunglasses.

"It's only been me from the beginning." Conan said all innocent like, "You're a burglar right?" he asked the man, "I wonder if you know…how painful a soccer ball can be when you get hit." Conan said as he held up the ball in his hands, as he placed on the floor and turned some dial on his shoe.

"Especially one kicked by power-enhancing shoes?" he asked in a serious tone, "Want to know?" he asked as he kicked the ball with a lot of force, right into the burglars head, knocking him to the ground.

'Wow that's a pretty good kick, I wonder how much those shoes would give me a boost in kicking?' Naruto thought as he whistled.

Conan ran into the room and saw Ayumi tied up, "Ayumi-chan!" he exclaimed as ran up to her and started to untie her.

Suddenly the burglar got up and he wasn't pleased.

"You treat me like this…" the burglar began speaking.

Conan cursed his mistake, 'Dammit his helmet reduced the damage of my soccer balls impact. I should've aimed for his chest.'

"Maybe I should teach you some manners." He said as he held out a baton, "Die!" He shouted as he held the baton over his head.

Naruto ran forward as he moved at impressive speed at the burglar.

"How about _no_ you creep!" the blonde shouted as he added chakra to his foot and did a spin kick right at the burglars back, sending the man flying face first to the ground.

Conan looked surprised by Naruto's move as he didn't think he would just charge at him.

Ayumi meanwhile was wide eyed in awe as she was amazed how Naruto took the burglar down in one kick without using a projectile like Conan does.

Naruto walked back towards them and kneeled, "Are you alright Ayumi-san?" he asked in concern as she nodded.

However Conan and Naruto turned around as they saw the burglar getting up again.

"You've got to be kidding me he's still conscious!" Conan asked no one in particular.

"His jacket had an inner vest that must've acted as padding when I kicked him." Naruto deduced from how his kick felt that there was another layer of cloths under him.

The burglar stood up with larger anger than before, "You brats have angered me for the last time!" he said as he grabbed the pole he dropped and took out another one from his inner pocket. "Now I'm going to kill all three of you!" he said as he was about to charge at Naruto, Conan and Ayumi.

"Hold it right there!" two voices said at the same time.

The burglar turned around to see two new kids, one fat with bald spots and the other skinny with freckles.

"Genta, Mitsuhiko!" Conan shouted.

'Either those two have perfect timing or lousy since I had this situation under control.' Naruto thought.

The burglar was now annoyed, "What now, more kids well it doesn't matter cause no matter how many of you there are you won't be able to stop me!" the burglar shouted as he charged at Genta and Mitsuhiko who both smirked as they separated to reveal Haibara who was hiding behind them and she was carrying a fire extinguisher.

Haibara sprayed the burglar in the face as he was stopped from charging since he was blinded by the foam as Genta and Mitsuhiko both tackled him together, which knocked the burglar down on the ground as he hit his head again and was finally unconscious.

Genta and Mitsuhiko cheered saying the Detective Boys solved another case. Conan was checking over Ayumi for any injuries while Naruto talked with Haibara wondering where she got the extinguisher from and also asking if it was her plan to have Genta and Mitsuhiko distract the burglar while she sprayed him which she revealed it was.

It was only a few short minutes later that the Detective Boys heard the sounds of sirens as the vehicles quickly parked themselves where moments later the door was swung open as Megure, Takagi, Sato and other officers entered the building with their guns drawn and ready.

"A bit late, but you showed up at a good time." Naruto said to his mother.

Miwako and the other officers lowered their guns and looked at the scene.

Miwako walked up to Naruto and bopped him on the head earning a yelp from him.

"I thought I told you that we would handle it." She said to him with her hands on her hips.

Naruto rubbed his head, "Hey, we needed to do something quick, so we acted." He argued.

Miwako was silent for a moment before she sighed, her son just had to be head strong like her, "Still, what if something had happened?" she asked

"I called you so nothing would've happened as all of us had stalled him." He responded which got Conan's attention.

"Naruto, you called them?" Conan asked

Naruto nodded, "Yeah. Remember when you asked if I had called someone, well, I lied." He said with a shrug.

Conan blinked in surprise.

"I mean we are just kid's specs, so I thought having some of people in blue as backup couldn't hurt." He finished

Conan nodded at his logic.

After the burglar was arrested, Agasa arrived and picked up the kids as Miwako escorted Naruto home as well while he was saying goodbye to Ai.

Takagi had offered the two a ride home, but Miwako declined saying that she wanted to walk home as well because she wanted to talk more with Naruto alone.

Takagi understood and had gotten in his car to leave but as he did he saw Naruto quickly raising his fingers in a V shape and pointing them to his eyes where he them pointed them at him silently telling him, 'I'm watching you'.

The action made him gulp as he drove away and hoped Naruto wasn't going to visit again tomorrow to deliver more punishment.

The two continued walking down the street and Miwako started a conversation, "What you did was reckless." She said in a neutral tone, showing she was pissed.

Naruto nodded, "I know, but…I had to do something. I wasn't just going to let my friend get hurt or worse." he said back.

Miwako sighed, "Still, at least you called me to come. That's a start." She said as she ruffled his hair.

Naruto smirked before he saw a corner that was a short cut to their house, "Race you back home!" he shouted as he started to run for the corner despite Miwako's protest as she started chasing him.

Naruto grinned continued running towards the corner but as he was going around the building a woman dressed in a large hat and sunglasses accidently crashed into Naruto, causing him to fall on his bottom and scrap his palms on the prickly path while the persons sunglasses were fell off.

"Ow… hey! Watch where your-"Any further words were halted as Naruto looked up at the person that bumped into him now that the sunglasses were removed.

The person was a very attractive girl who appeared to be in her early twenties. She had long brown hair that reached her lower waist which she wore in a ponytail that seemed to be well groomed.

Even though she was wearing formal cloths Naruto could see that she had a nice figure which he suspected she got some form exercise and proper nutrition.

The most interesting part of her was her eyes that seemed to reflect kindness, gentleness and a very caring personality.

The woman, seeing the blood, panicked, "I'm so sorry, oh, please let me help you up." She said as she helped Naruto up who was partially dazed from looking at the attractive elder girl.

The girl then picked up her sunglasses and put them back on.

Miwako managed to catch up and saw her son talking to someone, "Naruto-kun, who're you talking to?" she questioned

Naruto turned to his mom, "Oh..um I just ran into this person and fell and scraped myself on the ground." he said as he showed her his palms which has a noticeable deep scratch on them.

Sato signed at that, "I told you not to run didn't I?"

Naruto stared back, "Yeah but I just wanted to race home."

"Excuse me ma'am." the mystery girl said as Sato turned to her, "Is he your son?" she questioned.

Sato smiled a bit, "Yes he is."

The girl was surprised as the woman looked so young for being a mother to what she guessed was a six to seven year old boy.

The woman shook her head, "Well since it's partially my fault for bumping into him why don't you let me make it up to you two." She said as she looked around and saw a crape truck, "How about I buy you and your mother a crape?" she asked hopefully.

Naruto looked surprised that a stranger would want to buy them food as an apology for just knocking him down, "Umm you really don't have too it's alright." He said gently.

Miwako thought the same but with some suspicion now, "Yes, that's quite alright it wasn't anything serious."

"I insist." The girl said with finality.

Naruto wanted to object more but he figured she wasn't going to budge. He nodded and looked at his mother and she nodded too albeit hesitantly.

"Alright then." He said as he gave in.

"Thank you." The girl said with a cheerful smile that Naruto found cute.

Naruto and Miwako had gotten in line where they eventually placed their order.

Miwako had ordered a simple taco crape while Naruto ordered an ice cream fruit crape since he already had lunch at school.

Both their orders were some of the lower priced servings on the menu since even though they accepted the offer they didn't want to get the one who was treading them to spend too much money on them.

They all sat on a bus stop bench they found close by.

Naruto was enjoying the sweet and juicy crape he was eating while Miwako had already finished hers. Miwako had been keeping a watch for anything strange from the unknown girl.

Naruto started a conversation as he turned to the girl, "Hey, I just realized that I never got your name."

Miwako realized that too, "Yeah and I'd certainly like to know the name of the one who's treating us?" she asked

The girl looked at them and then looked around to see the surrounding, she didn't see any people walking by other than some cars that just sped by.

She figured she could answer them, "Oh right, I'm sorry how rude of me but I needed to make sure there was no one nearby." she said as she took off her sunglasses exposing her full face now.

Miwako's eyes widened at who she was seeing, "Hey! You're Okino Yoko aren't you!" she shouted out at now seeing the face of the popular teen signer and teen pop sensation in the flesh.

"Shhh don't shout my name so loudly, I don't want anyone to spot me" Yoko shushed Miwako.

Miwako quickly covered her mouth before she apologized, "Sorry I just can't believe I'm seeing you in person, I listen to some of your songs, their quite nice to hear when I'm relaxing at home after work."

Yoko smiled, "Thanks, I always try my best when I'm out their singing to the crowed."

Naruto however looked confused, "Umm Kaa-san who is she?" he questioned which earned a surprise look from both Miwako and Yoko.

Miwako was the first to answer, "You don't know who Yoko is?" Naruto shook his head. "She's one of the biggest teen pop sensations in all of Japan."

Naruto tilted he's head to the side "So she's very famous?"

Miwako gawked at him, "Famous yes, but she would be recognized as one of the top teen idols of all Japan."

Yoko smiled at hearing the praise even though she did what she did because she enjoyed it rather than doing it for fame and money it was still nice to hear honest opinions about her.

Miwako turned to Yoko and bowed slightly, "I'm sorry if you're offended that he doesn't know you."

Yoko waved off the apology, "That's okay I was just surprised that's all, I've never met someone who didn't know who I was, it's actually quite an interesting experience from always having people wanting a picture or autograph from me when they saw me."

Yoko looked at Naruto and noticed something, she looked at bit closer, "Wow are those birthmarks on your cheeks?" she questioned as she's never seen marks like those before, they looked like whiskers which made him look even more adorable.

Naruto nodded, "Yeah they are, I was born with them."

Yoko looked a bit excited, "Can I touch them?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Umm…sure?"

Yoko traced her finger gently on Naruto's face which earned him a slight blush he was now trying to hide as he felt her soft touch.

Yoko was surprised as she traced the marks and they felt like little scars, she keep tracing her fingers as she there was something she found enjoyable about tracing her fingers on Naruto's face.

It almost felt like she was petting a cat or some other type of feline animal she could even swear that she heard Naruto purring lowly as she kept tracing his marks.

Eventually she let go as she then gave him a surprise hug, "Kawaii, you're so cute and those whisker marks are so adorable."

Naruto was now glad for the hug because his face was doing a good job impersonating a stop sign that glowed like a red light at night.

Miwako saw his son's face and was hiding her laughter, she herself thought the same thing about Naruto's mark when she first saw them and secretly traced them one night she found him sleeping on the couch.

Yoko released Naruto as he was thankful that his face returned to normal.

Yoko suddenly came up with an idea, "Say I know this is short notice Naruto but how would you like to be on a TV program I'm having this Saturday?"

Now both Naruto and Sato were surprised as Naruto pointed at himself, "You want me to be on TV?" he questioned as he never thought about being on TV even though he believed it would be cool.

Yoko nodded, "Yeah I would love to have you on TV with me; however you won't be the only one there as I've invited other children to be there as well for the charity event we're hosting."

Naruto thought about it and figured if it was for charity then he should do it to contribute, also he wanted to learn more about Yoko and figured this was a way to do it, "We'll if it's okay with my Kaa-san then I'd love to go." he said as he turned to his mom to see her answer.

Miwako looked a bit conflicted.

On the one hand this could be a fun experience for Naruto, but on the other hand she was worried that the one who attacked Naruto might see him on TV and see he survived which might get him to go after him to try and finish the job.

Miwako sighed, "Alright you can go but I would feel better if I could come to so I can watch over him."

Yoko said that she didn't mind as she reached into her purse and gave Naruto the invitation while he gave Miwako a backstage pass where she could keep a watch on Naruto like she wanted.

Miwako put her pass away, "So what time should we be their?" she asked.

Yoko thought for a moment, "I believe at 12:00pm would be good since you'll be able to see what the show will be about and what he might need to do."

Miwako nodded as they said their goodbyes to the teen idol and went back on their way home.

On the way home, Miwako grinned as she looked at Naruto.

"So Naruto-kun, looks like you've got a crush on a certain pop idol now." She teased.

Naruto blushed as he started going hysterical in denial, "I DO NOT! I just found her to be a nice person and was surprised she was a famous person."

"But that didn't stop you from blushing like crazy when she held your cheeks and gave you that hug, personally I didn't know your face could go that red." She grinned as she knew she was right.

Naruto was gawking now, "I…she…we….and she…oh leave me alone." he grumbled as he started walking faster to get some distance from his mom who he now heard laughing out loud knowing she had him pegged and had new material to tease him with.

His day had truly been a unique experience and was now slightly wishing he had just taken Takagi's offer just to avoid the embarrassment he was feeling but changed his mind when he remembered the feeling of Yoko hugging him and tracing his birthmarks.

He wouldn't change today for anything else.

**0**

**Hope you guys enjoyed it.**

**I know you guys are wondering what naruto's 'gut feeling' is, but it will be explained in the next chappy.  
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**I would like to let everyone that this is only a side-project.  
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**R&R, no flames, Peace off!**


	4. Spotlight!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Detective Conan, please support the official release.**

**Challenge by Agurra of the Darkness**

**Co-written by: Masamune X23**

**Wow, it has been a super long time since I was doing this fic huh? But you guys have to remember it is just a side project, a very fun one, but still a side project. Your support is greatly appreciated though.**

**So we learn what Naruto's 'gut feeling' is, Yoko's charity event, and, dare I say it, Naruto's big moment!**

**Now, fair warning, this is an all OC chapter, this has never happened in canon. So please, as I get on my hands and knees, don't hate me if I didn't get the flow of the show into it or it sounds corny. As my fans, this is all I ask, please and thank you.**

**0**

Naruto was dressed in his usual outfit, though his mother kept trying to get him to wear something more formal, but he blanched at the idea. It was not a pretty sight when Miwako tried forcing a bowtie on him which resulted in a violent wrestling match that ended when the bow tie was torn from the struggle.

Bowties were Conan's thing, not his!

"Are you ready Naruto-kun?" Miwako asked, just in case he wanted to back out.

She wouldn't blame him if he wanted to. After all this was a big event for him. He was going to be on national T.V. with the famous Okino Yoko.

Naruto nodded with slight excitement, he had told his friends to watch the charity show and said there was going to be a big surprise. He was so looking forward to seeing their reactions when he gets back.

Ayumi, Genta, and Mitsuhiko were really excited about the surprise, but Naruto thought that maybe Conan and Ai took a guess and figured it out.

They were smart like that.

Naruto and Miwako went to the car and drove to the station.

**0 T.V. Station 0**

They arrived in the parking lot of the studio and exited the car.

Naruto slammed the door shut and had a somewhat giddy look.

"Naruto-kun, take it easy with the door." Miwako scolded lightly since it could've been dented but she didn't really blame him for being a bit over excited.

"Sorry Kaa-san." Naruto said back quickly.

They headed to the back of the studio where they saw a giant burly man with a bold head that shined. He was wearing a black muscle shirt and jeans with black boots. He had a pair of black sunglasses on to. He had his arms crossed and was holding a clipboard.

"Name." The man grunted in an intimidating manner.

"Sato Miwako and Sato Naruto." Miwako grunted back with some edge. She scuffed in her mind as the man tried to look intimidating.

The man lifted his glasses to check the list and gave them a once over, "Your on the list." He said and opened the door for them to enter.

"Thank you." Miwako said as she walked in with her hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"Nice glasses." Naruto commented and the man just grunted back.

They walked through back stage and had to duck out of the way at times with all the stage hands running around getting everything ready.

"Naruto-kun, Sato-san~" a cheerful voice called out and they both turned to see Okino Yoko dressed in her pop idol outfit that consisted of a white dress with white gloves and boots that had yellow highlights. She had four kids behind her, two boys and two girls.

"Hey Yoko-san." Naruto said with a cheery wave and smile as he hid a small blush from seeing Yoko's outfit.

"Hello Okino-san." Miwako said with a slight bow.

"Please Sato-san just call me Yoko."

Sato nodded, "Ok then Yoko-san."

"Well since you're here, let's all get introduced, shall we?" Yoko stated gesturing to the kids behind her.

The first kid was one of the two boys. He had slick brown hair, sharp black eyes, and teeth that looked whitened as if he came from a dentist not too long ago. He was wearing a brown dress jacket, a grey bowtie, and white shorts with black shoes. In Naruto's opinion, he looked like a rat.

"I'm Houshu Takai, best remember that." He said with a sniff, like a spoiled brat. **[Name: Houshu Takai, Age: 10]**

The next one was the large boy; he had a crop of black hair with a round face. He had green eyes and was wearing a pair of black pants, a white long-sleeve shirt with a brown sweater vest and brown shoes. He currently had his hand in a bag of chips.

"Chijou Joushi." He said with food in his mouth. **[Name: Chijou Joushi, Age: 9]**

Naruto scrunched his nose in slight disgust from smelling his breath that stunk from mixed foods.

The next one was one of the two girls; she had a shy way about her as she was nervous. She had auburn hair in pigtails with a pair of violet eyes. She was wearing a white skirt with a yellow blouse and white shoes.

She gave a weak smile that actually made her look very cute, like a little puppy. "H-hi, I'm Nimaime Tsunagi, nice to meet." She stammered out with a bit of a lisp. **[Name: Nimaime Tsunagi, Age: 7]**

The last one was the final girl. She had a neutral look to her that sort of reminded Naruto of Haibara. She had short jagged purplish hair and golden brown eyes. She wore silver wireframe glasses, a white short-sleeve blouse, and a blue skirt, with blue knee high socks and light brown shoes. She was also holding a blue book under her arm.

"Nagato Yuki." She said in a monotone voice as she adjusted her glasses. **(1) [Name: Nagato Yuki, Age: 8]**

"Well, nice to meet you guys, I'm Sato Naruto and this is my Kaa-san." Naruto said as Sato waved at them.

Yoko clapped her hands, "Well, now that everyone is acquainted, we should give a small tour before the show starts. We have about," she said as she checked her watch, "Another 30 minutes before it starts. Come on everyone." She said cheerfully as she started to walk away while everyone proceeded to follow her.

They walked around a bit until they ran into the cameraman.

"Yo Okino-chan, how ya been?" he asked flirtatiously.

He was a slick looking guy with long brown hair in a ponytail and was wearing a white tee-shirt with jeans and a black leather jacket. **[Name: Yosome Sekkou, Age: 22]**

"Hello Yosome-san." Yoko said with a smile.

"Hey after the show you want to go somewhere?" he said as he wiggled his eyebrows.

Yoko gave forced smile, "No thank you, I think I'll be tired after the show." She said as she led the group away.

"Well if you change your mind the offer still stands!" he shouted

Sato had a look of disgust on her face, "My, he was a forceful one." She comment and Yoko nodded, she disliked the playboy types and she still didn't feel like she was ready for another relationship after the incident where her ex-boyfriend committed suicide in her apartment and tired to make it look like she had murdered him, when the whole thing was really a tragic misunderstanding that resulted in him ending his life for nothing. True it had been a few months since the incident, but she still had trouble trying to get over it completely.

They continued walking when Yoko lit up and waved, "Rui-chan~" she said as she waved to a girl with her short black hair in a tight bun. She had a petite figure and was wearing a grey tank top along with camouflage shorts and brown boots. She also had on a pair of work gloves and was wielding a pair of pliers as she was fixing a stage light. **[Name: Houjo Rui, Age: 24]**

She turned around and gave a crooked smile, "Hey Yoko, nice outfit." She said as she admired the dress and looked behind the pop star, "Who're the munchkins?" she asked

Naruto gained a tick mark at being called that while MIwako giggled knowing how much Naruto had height issues and as such disliked being mocked from his shortness.

"Mou, Rui-chan you know that some kids are going on air with me. Stop playing around." Yoko said trying to sound angry and put her hands on her hips, but Rui just laughed at her.

"Please stop trying to act angry, it just makes you look adorable instead." The woman said barking with laughter.

Yoko just pouted while Naruto had to agree with the woman on that fact. Yoko did look adorable even when angry, it was like seeing a kitten trying to look meow angrily, it just made it look cuter to people.

"Keep 'em in line though. I don't need some kiddies messing with my stage." The stagehand said.

"Of course oh great Rui-sama." Yoko said with a mock bow and giggle. Rui just rolled her eyes and went back to work.

"That was my friend Rui, one of the best stagehands around, she can fix almost anything and is great with special effects." Yoko commented.

They walked into the dressing room next.

"And here is where some of the magic happens. I have some extra dresses to go through since the charity event has so many sponsors and some of them are fashion companies. So I'm going to be dressing up a lot tonight." Yoko said with a laugh.

"Nice rags Oinkino." A female voice said with a sneer.

The group turned to see a blonde haired girl with stormy grey eyes wearing, well wearing very little in fact. She had on a gold louse blouse that held very large breasts, black sophie shorts, and white high heels and a white fur coat. She also had way too much makeup and perfume on. **[Name: Halley Holand, Age: 17]**

"Halley, a pleasure to see you again." Yoko said with a very weak smile.

Halley walked right up to Yoko and pointed her in the chest, "Don't think just because you got this gig your special Oinkino, got it?" she said with a growl.

Yoko rolled her eyes, "Says the girl who couldn't cut it back home in the U.S. and hasn't gotten a job in months." Yoko shot back, she may be a nice girl, but she won't take anything from some prissy spoiled brat.

"What was that!" Halley shouted in fury.

"Halley!" the voice of a man shouted.

They turned to see a man in a brown business suit with brown hair brushed back that was fading to grey in the front along with a pair of blue eyes. **[Name: Sutoikku Ko, Age: 34]**

"Ah Sutoikku-san." Yoko said with a true smile.

The man turned to face her as his eyes flashed with sadness for a second before they went to happy, "Yoko-kun, a pleasure to see you again." He smiled

"Guys, let me introduce Sutoikku Ko-san, my first manager." She said as she looked at the man that helped her make it big when she first started her career.

"Who happens to be my manager now." Halley said in a haughty tone.

Ko glared at her slightly, "Must you really antagonize everyone you meet?" he questioned.

"Shut up, you should have gotten me this job, but you let Oinkino here get it ya bastard." She shouted at her manager.

"You said you hate working with, and I quote, 'Snot nose brats who can't even wipe themselves.' End quote, so how were you thinking you were getting this job?" he said with a snort.

"So what? I still should have gotten a chance to see if I wanted it." The blonde argued.

"Someone has a foul mouth." Miwako stated.

"And who are you huh?" Halley rounded on Sato since she had heard her comment.

"A police officer." Sato said with a grin.

Hearing that Halley backed off slightly and Ko grabbed her shoulder, "Come on, let's get you out of here before you cause even more of a scene." He said with a growl and pushed her out of the room.

As he passed Naruto, he felt a wave of nausea hit him. His knees felt weak as he started to stand wobbly and covered his mouth to keep the pile that was building up down **(2)**.

_'Wha…what was that?' _he questioned in his mind as his mother grabbed his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" she whispered to him as she knelt down to his level, wondering what had made her son look so ill all of a sudden.

Naruto swallowed hard and took a deep breath, "Yeah, just felt a little anxious is all. Guess the excitement is getting to me." he told his mother as he leaned against the wall. He shook his head trying to get rid of the remainder of nausea, he'd figure out what that feeling was later.

"If you're sure." Miwako said in a worried tone.

Naruto smiled at her, he loved the fact that his mom worried about her. It showed just how much she really loved. It made him feel warm and safe like he never felt before.

"So he was your first manager?" Naruto asked

"Yes, Sutoikku-san has been in show biz since he was kid. He started as a stagehand." Yoko commented lightly, but Naruto was the only one to hear it as another voice shouted over her.

"Yoko-san, we need you and the kids for a mic check!" A stagehand said loudly.

Yoko turned to him, "Hai." She said cheerfully and turned to the group, "Let's get you guys set up for the show nee." she said with a wink and everyone followed her to get set up.

Rui started to hand out some clip-on mics to the kids, "Lose these and your toast munchkins, capuche?" she said in an intimidating way.

Everyone, but Naruto and Yuki nodded with fear while the other two just looked her straight in the eye and nodded calmly.

_'Please, like she could be scarier then Kaa-san.' _He thought with a scuff, his mother was absolutely frightening when she got angry at a poor sucker. He felt sorry for Yumi when she gained his mother ire most of the times.

They clipped them on and watched as Yuki did a few mic checks.

The director lined them all up to the seats behind Yoko.

Miwako was behind stage watching with a smile on her face.

"We are live in 3…2…1…" the director said.

The camera turned on and the show was now connected world-wide.

"Welcome! I'm Okino Yoko~" Yoko cheered loudly, "I welcome all of you to this amazing charity event. This event is one of the newest games being released, but there is a big twist, for every game sold, 30% of the funds will be sent to help the endangered species and establish new animal sanctuaries." She said as she raised her hand in the air and threw it back to point at the kids, "Today, I have a few lucky children to join me today on stage who have played this new game or have started to play this new game. It is an action packed adventure game called Final Conquest."

**0 With the Detective Boys and company 0**

The DB along with the Mouri's were at Professor Agasa's house to watch the Okino Yoko event on the Professors' big T.V.

"Naruto-kun's on T.V.!" Ayumi said in surprise.

"Ah, that was what the surprise was." Mitsuhiko said with a nod of understanding.

"Why didn't he get us to come too." Genta said in sadness.

"I knew it." Conan said with a sigh, Naruto already gave them the clues. Telling them to watch the show; he seemed overly happy, they hadn't heard from him all day, a big surprise, it all pointed to him getting on the show. _'Hee, guess even he can act like a kid at times.' _Conan thought in amusement.

"Whiskers looks pretty happy." Ai pointed out as Naruto was grinning, but was also chatting with a girl wearing glasses who looked like she might be ignoring or listening to him.

"So that's your new friend Conan-kun? He looks so cute." Ran said while her father was cheering for Yoko like crazy as usual.

"Yep, Naruto-kun is great Ran-nee-san." Ayumi said before Conan could answer.

"Yes, he's really smart too." Mitsuhiko added

"And lots of girls like him too; he even has a new fan club in school." Genta said and everyone looked at him.

"A fan club when did that happen?" Conan said in slight shock, he knew Naruto was popular, but a fan club was something out of an anime!

Genta just shrugged.

"Ho, so he's a lady killer is he?" The male Mouri said as he looked at the blonde, "It's nice to see he's doing well." Kogoro commented to himself as he hid his jealousy from seeing Naruto with his dream idol VERY WELL, but the others heard him.

"Oji-san you know Naruto?" Conan asked in interest.

Kogoro scratch the back of his head, "It's not my place to say." He said

Conan just stared at him, the old man knew something, but just didn't want to say it.

**0 Back to the show 0**

"Let's start by meeting our guests~" Yoko said as she turned to the children.

"From left to right we have Houshu Takai, Chijou Joushi, Ninaime Tsunagi, Nagato Yuki and Sato Naruto." Yoko said gesturing to each kid as she named them.

"Now let's get to know our guests." Yoko said as she turned to Takai, "So Takai what are your likes, dislikes, dreams or goals?" she asked.

Takai smirked, "We'll I like money because it buys many things including fun, I dislike boredom and things not going my way, I don't have a dream cause I know it will be a reality which is to take over my father's company when he steps down as the president of the company."

Naruto rolled his eyes at hearing the answers, _'__Jeez this guy needs an encyclopedia on humility and manners.'_

Yuki was thinking something similar, _'__This is what happens when you spoil a child and don't show him discipline.'_

"So you want to take your fathers place and run the company when he retires?" Yoko asked not letting his answers bother her.

Takai nodded, "Yep and when I do I'll take it to a whole new level making more money and expanding it across the world." he said a bit arrogantly.

Naruto sweat dropped, _'__I'm so not buying anything he's selling in stores.'_

Joushi thought differently, _'__I hope he'll open new restaurants with delicious meals.'_

"Thank you for your words, now let's turn to our next guest Joushi." Yoko said as the spotlight turned switched to him.

"We'll my likes are delicious food and drinks, my dislikes are exercise and bad food, my dream for the future is to become a chef and to open my own large restaurant." Joushi said eagerly.

Naruto hid a laugh as he heard Joushi didn't like exercise; he was kind of like Genta that way. He hoped to that if he did open a restaurant it would have ramen.

Yuki wasn't surprised hearing his since she figured a chubby person who disliked exercise would have goals involving food in some way.

Takai meanwhile though differently, _'__With his size I wouldn't be surprised if he weighed over 100 pounds in one year.' _he thought with annoyance.

**0 Back at Agasa place 0**

"Cool I bet he could open an awesome restaurant with eel on rice." Genta said as he heard Joushi's dream.

"You always think about eel Genta-kun." Mitsuhiko said with a sigh.

"You got a problem with grilled eel!?" Genta said angrily as he grabbed Mitsuhiko by the collar.

"Guys don't fight!" Ayumi said as she moved to break it up with Ran joining to help.

"That Joushi kid seems to have a modest dream." Mouri said to himself but Conan and Haibara heard him.

"Unlike that Takai kid." Haibara said softly so only Conan would hear.

"No kidding, that kid could use an adjustment for his arrogance and cockiness." Conan said with his head resting on his raised hand as he saw Yoko continue talking to Joushi.

"We'll this is what usually happens to children who always get what they want with no work." Agasa said to them.

"My parents are kind of wealthy and yet you don't see me acting like him." Conan said softly to Haibara and Agasa.

"That's because you're more modest and have a good head on your shoulders unlike certain people I know." Haibara actually complimented as she looked to Mouri.

Conan saw who she was referring to, "He's not that bad." He said as Haibara just stared at him emotionlessly, "Okay he is that bad but he does sometimes show some skills as a detective."

"Only like a 1 in 50 chance does he ever show it. From what you've said he only ever gets a brain when Ran's mom is involved or one of his old friends." Haibara said dully.

Conan sighed, "Yep that's pretty much the only time he shows a brain. I swear sometimes I just want to bash my head when he behaves stupidly and gets so dam cocky with his false fame." he said while rubbing his head trying not to think about all the times Mouri laughed like an idiot or messed things up. He sometimes wished he had just stayed as a cop since he was better at apprehending than finding the culprit.

**0 Back on the Show 0**

Yoko had finished talking to Joushi and turned to Tsunagi asking her to speak up.

Tsunagi was a bit nervous seeing the camera turn to her. She was having trouble getting her words together.

Seeing this Yuki placed her hand on her shoulder in a reassuring gesture that surprised Naruto a bit, "It's okay just take a deep breath." Yuki said to her.

Tsunagi gave her a thankful look before she took her advice and took a deep breath before answering. "Well my likes are flowers and animals, I dislike bullies who pick on people for no reason and violence, my dreams for the future is to become a famous and confident idol like you Yoko-san because you've been my inspiration since I first saw you."

"Aww thank you Tsunagi-chan, you're so sweet and I wish you luck in making your dream come true maybe when you get older I can help you start a career." Yoko said happily after hearing Tsunagi's dream.

Tsunagi now had a happy look on her face as her hands were clapped together in joy, "Really, you mean that?"

Yoko nodded with a smile, "Uh huh and maybe one day we'll work together on an album or something."

Tsunagi was looking happier, "Thank you Yoko-san." she said in gratitude feeling better now.

"You're welcome, now then let's turn to our fourth guest Nagato Yuki." at the sound of her name the spotlight was on her now.

"So Yuki why don't you tell us about yourself." Yoko asked.

"I like books; my dislikes are extremely loud noises and time travelers…"

"Wait time travelers?" Yoko interrupted the unusual mention of her dislike, "Why would you hate something that doesn't exist?" she questioned in surprise while Naruto and the others also got their attention captured.

"That's classified information." Yuki said with a barely seen tiny smile.

Everyone face faulted at that.

Naruto on the other hand laughed.

**0 Back at Agasa house 0**

Conan had a tired look to his face, "You know that girl is starting to remind me of you Haibara." he said as he turned to her.

Haibara had an emotionless look, "I don't act like that." she said with a tint of annoyance.

'_Yeah you do.' _ Conan thought knowing they seemed similar.

"She's kind of weird." Genta said as he rubbed his head.

Ayumi gave a straining laugh to that.

"Well I liked that Tsunagi girl; she's cute and wants to be an idol like Yoko-san." Mitsuhiko said with a blush from seeing her talk on TV. She looked so cute when she smiled.

"Yeah she was cute." Genta said almost dreamily.

"Hmp." Ayuma said with puffed cheeks at seeing them go gaga.

**0 Back at the studio 0**

Yoko had finished interviewing Yuki who told them about her dislikes of time travelers. She then told them about her dream of wanting to travel the world.

"Okay, thank you Yuki for your words now then let's turn to our final guest, Sato Naruto." Yoko said as she turned to her last minute entry and new friend.

"Hi there my names Naruto and my likes are ramen, my friends, my Kaa-san having fun and solving crimes."

"You solve crimes?" Yoko interrupted as the other kids were also interested in hearing now.

"Well not just me I solve them with my friends in the Detective Boys."

"Oh so you're a new member in their group?" Yoko asked as she was familiar with that group having seen them in the papers occasionally. The other kids had also heard about that group and were surprised Naruto was in it.

"Yeah I am, I just joined a few days ago."

"Interesting, so what do you dislike and what are your goals." Yoko asked getting back on topic.

"We'll I have more of a hatred rather dislike towards bullies, punks, and murderers." Naruto said with a serious expression that surprised the others.

**0 Back at the Agasa House 0**

The others including Conan and Haibara were stunned by what they heard.

'_He hasn't forgotten what happened to him when we found him.__'_ Mouri thought to himself as he saw the hatred in Naruto's eyes when he said he hated those types of people.

Conan was in a similar thought except that he was wondering why Naruto seemed to have hatred towards those kinds of people. He looked to see Mouri looking with a serious expression which was always rare for him. Seeing him looking like that and the fact that he knew something about Naruto that he didn't reveal to them made him wonder if something happened to him which might've had something to do with Sato-san adopting him.

Haibara meanwhile was in her own thoughts as she saw something dark in Naruto's eyes when he was speaking. The kind of thing that shouldn't really be in his eyes or in one so young, she was a little worried.

**0 Back at the Studio 0**

Miwako was looking sad and worried at her sons' expression and the way he spoke about those he hated. Would he carry that hate for the rest of his life? She would have to sit him down and talk to him about it before it gets out of hand.

"Well…that's…surprising to hear. Is there a specific reason why you hate those kinds of people?" Yoko asked

Naruto looked down as his hair shadowed his eyes, "I rather not talk about it if you don't mind." he said lowly but just loud enough for her to hear.

Yuki's eyes took a softer look as she kept looking at Naruto, _'__Something happened to him_.' she thought to herself as she wondered why Naruto seemed to have hatred towards someone.

"No that's okay you don't have to answer if you don't want to. So what are your dreams if you don't mind answering?" Yoko asked him.

Now Naruto had one of his cheerful smiles again, "My dream is to one day become a great police officer like my Kaa-san and to become a great detective." he said proudly.

"Oh so you want to be like your mother, well that's nice to hear, I bet she'd be proud to see you join the force." Yoko said cheerfully.

"I can't wait for when I actually do." Naruto said with a grin.

"And there you have it ladies and gentlemen. You've heard it all from our guest now before we take our calls allow me to take this chance to sing one of my songs while we give the children a short break." Yoko said as she took a microphone that was on her table and took the center stage to sing.

_-Play: Yukidoke no Ano Kawa no Nagare no you ni-_

Naruto had his eyes shut as he enjoyed listening to the beautiful voice Yoko had as she sang her song. It made him feel warm and enveloped in its lyrics as he felt like he was entering a dream. Yuki meanwhile was impressed to a slight degree at the idols voice live instead of hearing it on the radio or something. The other kids were just enjoying the music as they stayed quiet.

Yoko finished her song and was breathing a little bit hard, but as an idol she was use to it.

"Now then let's-" Yoko continued, but was cut off as something fell from the top of the stage and landed right in front of her.

Yoko's eyes widened in fear as she screamed.

"Cut, turn off those dam cameras now!" the director said in a panic.

"Got it boss man." Sekkou said in a hurry.

The kids, minus Yuki and Naruto, screamed in fear at what was hanging before them. Naruto had narrowed eyes while Yuki had startled eyes, but kept herself collected.

The dead body of Halley Holand with a noose around her neck.

Miwako ran up to the body and looked up to see anything from the rafters, but she saw nothing at all. She whipped out her cell phone and called her boss…it was going to be one of those days.

"Inspector Megure, we have a case." Sato said and nodded to the call and told them the location. She closed her phone and pulled out her badge, "I'm Detective Sato Miwako; this is now a crime scene! I want everyone to calm down and Stay…Right…Here." She stated while keeping eyes on all of them. Each and everyone here was a suspect until they proved it was a suicide.

Naruto walked up to his mom, "Hey Kaa-san think I caught what Conan has." He said plainly, not affected by the dead body at all.

"And what's that?" Sato asked with a sigh.

"The Conan Effect." The blonde said with a crooked grin.

Sato face palmed at her sons reaction. She didn't know whether it was a good or bad thing that he wasn't frightened by the incident that's just happened.

**0**

Megure along with Takagi came in with the rest of the forensics' team to sweep the building.

It had been about 30 minutes till they had secured the building, the crime scene, and everyone else in the building, who were still panicking over the idols' death. They took another hour to ask many questions to see the victims state of mind and if some things were out of place.

"So we either have a suicide or an elaborate murder?" Megure asked Sato since she was first on the scene or right there when it happened.

Miwako nodded, but was also berating herself for letting this happen on her watch, even if she was off duty. The girl didn't seem suicidal, but she did have a lot of enemies. Her attitude supported that, "The girl had some (Read as: a lot) of enemies. She was not very well like by…well everyone from when I asked around before the show started." The female detective said.

"Wonderful so everyone has a motive." Megure said as he rubbed his temple.

An officer walked up to Megure, "Sir, the autopsy came back."

"Thank god, I could kiss Toushi for getting me the results without dealing the paperwork. We already have the press on our backs." Megure muttered

"He said that he that you owe him big time and he would deal with the paperwork. Cause of death was a snapped neck from the noose. Her Blood Alcohol Count was 0.6 sir." The officer started.

"And she's only 17; damn idols think they can do whatever they wanted." Megure snorted, but if she was almost drunk, then how would she kill herself.

"She also had a drug in her system." The officer added further.

"Which one?" Sato asked

"From what we tested, it was a benzodiazepine called Bromazepam, it's normally used for GAD, General Anxiety Disorder. It seems she mixed it with her alcohol too. Sir the drug also has been used in Suicide attempts." The officer added.

"In an overdose maybe, but I don't think in a self hanging." Sato commented in suspicion.

"True." The officer said.

"A benzodiazepine has muscle relaxant qualities right?" Megure asked and got a nod, "Is she prescribed to it?" he asked further and the officer flipped through the papers in his hand and nodded, "So someone who knew she was taking it could have caught her off guard and killed her." The Inspector surmised.

"It is plausible; she was pretty much out of it to even fight back with the drug and alcohol in her system." Sato said as she looked threw her notes from the interviews she took; "Now we just need to know who knew she was taking it."

"I'll start asking those who were close to her." Takagi volunteered

"Start with her manager, I saw them arguing before." Sato said

"Do you um want to come along to help?" Takagi asked with a bit of hope in his voice that Sato didn't notice.

Miwako shook her head, "I should check on Naruto-kun and the other kids." She said and head off.

Takagi let his head hang in depression and went to talk to Halley's manager.

**0 With the kids 0**

"I can't believe this, some dumb lady had to go and kill herself just before I could finish appearing on T.V, wait till my Otou-sama hears about this!" Takai said in anger.

"Dude, someone just died and that's all you care about?" Naruto asked in shock at such clear disregard for life.

"Why should I? It wasn't me or anyone I knew." he said uncaringly.

"Tsk and this is why I hate spoiled little brats." Naruto said with a snort, he reminded him of that duck butt kid back in his world.

"What was that!" Takai said in rage.

"I...Hate…Spoiled…Brats." Naruto said as he slowly stated each word.

Takai walked up to him and looked down at the blonde since the jerk of a boy was a bit taller, "Maybe I should teach you some manners?" he said menacingly.

Naruto just gave him a hard blink, "You really think you're scary?" Naruto asked as he poked the older kid's chest, "A little baby like you, who needs daddy to do everything for him, couldn't even come close to scaring me. So back off, before I break your face and reconstruct it into something useful like a stop sign." Naruto said with a growl and Takai, like the little baby he was, backed off with freight of the younger boy.

Yuki raised an eyebrow in amusement from hearing his descriptive threat.

"Wh-what do we do now?" Tsunagi asked with a stutter.

"Most likely go home after the police ask us some question. Some common ones would be if we saw anything strange, out of place, or someone acting strangely." Yuki stated as she read her book.

"Why ask us? It was a suicide?" Joushi said as he munched on some chips.

Naruto snorted, "You would find it funny at how many times someone tries to make a murder look like a suicide." The blonde said as he crossed his arms.

"We think the same thing Naruto-kun." Sato said as she walked up to the kids.

"Hey Kaa-san, so what's the verdict?" Naruto asked in curiosity since his mom or the other officers seem to think the same thing as him.

"Can't really tell you much, but you kids will be here for a bit till we shed some more light on this. So sit tight till then." Sato ordered, "That goes for you too Naruto-kun." She said sternly since her son was bound to get involved somehow.

Naruto raised his hands in a defensive manner, "Okay okay." The blonde said assuring his mother that he was not going to get involved. He was of course not going to listen to her because after all he wouldn't be a member of the Detective Boys if he didn't try to solve the crime.

Naruto started walking away when Takai noticed him leaving, "That detective said to stay." The brat said.

"Bathroom." Naruto said as he waved him off.

Of course he wasn't going to the bathroom thought. He saw a familiar figure and approached him.

"Yo detective Takagi." The said as he waved happily.

Takagi turned to him and jump slightly at his presence, "Naruto-kun, hi." He said with a nervous strained smile and moved his hand near the front of his jewels just in case. He still felt some pain there from last time.

Naruto smiled at him, he _was_ learning, "Hey, what are you doing now?" the boy asked curiously.

Takagi sighed in relief, the blonde was going to be civil, "Just taking some statements and seeing who knew if Holand-san was taking any kind of medication." The detective said.

"Hee, sounds interesting. Mind if I tag along?" our protagonist asked.

Takagi started to sweat, "I-I don't I could, it would make Sato-san angry?" well more likely at him.

_'More likely angry at him.' _Naruto thought with a grin, "Still, having me around could help find some of the small things. You know, like what Conan does." The blonde pressed, since he had heard that Conan had Takagi's trust.

Takagi lit up at that. Conan was good at finding the small little details, "Sure." He said with nod and then jumped seeing the little purple haired girl behind Naruto. Naruto, wondering why he jumped, turned to see Yuki with curiosity in her eyes.

"Hey Yuki-san." Naruto said, "What are you doing here?" he asked

"'Bathroom'" she said with finger quotes and she wanted to explore too, "What you are doing sounds more interesting." She said in her usual monotone voice.

"Agreed, staying with those other kids would drive the patients of a saint." Naruto joked and Yuki nodded to that. She found Tsunagi to be alright but the others to be annoying.

"Alright Detective Takagi, we got one more for this little walk." Naruto joked and Takagi nodded.

They first interviewed Halley's manager Sutoikko Ko.

Naruto felt that nauseas feeling again.

"You were the last to see the victim; could you tell me what she was last doing and also what you were doing?" Takagi asked with his pen and pad out.

"I left about half an hour to talk to the director." Ko said smoothly, "I left her to her own devices."

"From what I saw that was kind of reckless." Naruto commented and Ko just narrowed his eyes.

"I didn't know children asked questions for the police?" Ko shot back.

"But it is a valid question." Takagi said as he ran through his notes, "From what my colleague told me, leaving her alone would only let her cause more trouble."

"True, but I made sure she took her medication, without it she would have been a wreck." Ko said honestly.

"So you knew she was taking medication?" Takagi asked for confirmation.

Ko snorted, "Over half the people here know that." He said and Takagi sighed.

"Why would someone kill her though? Sure she was a mean person, but who would want to kill her?" Naruto said out loud with childish curiosity.

"I know someone who has a major grudge against her." Ko said

"Who?" Takagi asked

"The stagehand, Rui. Halley spread some bad rumors on the internet about her and she lost a lot of her credibility in her field."

"Thank you for your time. We may have some new questions later on, so we'll stay in touch." Takagi said

Takagi, Naruto, and Yuki started to walk away.

"What do you think of him Yuki-san?" Naruto asked

"Snappish." She calm girl said.

"Agreed." Naruto said with a nod.

**0**

"I'm not sorry that that bitch is gone." Rui said as she crossed her arms.

"Can you tell me about those rumors that Holand-san spread about you?" Takagi asked carefully.

Ru growled as she stomped the ground, "That little slut spread word that I was a lesbian and I had my way with her!" she said as she threw her hands in the air.

"Um, are you, um you know…" Takagi trailed off with a bit of a blush.

"Of course not you freaking idiot, besides, if I was I would never touch that little skank." She said with a shiver at the thought, "Any idea who did that to her?" she asked with curiosity.

"Were looking into it." Takagi answered while Naruto observed her. So far, only Ko had given him that uncomfortable feeling. Maybe some of the others may give it too.

"I'd look into Sekkou, he had a few 'run-ins' with the slut." She said while quoting with her fingers.

"He did seem like the player type." Naruto commented and Yuki nodded.

Rui got a good look at Naruto and noticed something.

"Are those things real?" she asked as she pointed at Naruto's whisker marks.

Yuki was also wondering about that, but kept it to herself.

"Um, yes." Naruto said hesitantly.

Seriously, what was with girls and his whisker marks?!

"Can I touch them?" Rui asked innocently.

"Sure?" Naruto answered questioningly.

Rui rubbed her fingers over them and gasped when he purred.

"Kawaii~" Rui said as she hugged him.

'_Why?' _Naruto shouted in his mind.

Yuki walked over and felt them too.

"Hey, sto-" Naruto tried to say but he just purred again.

"Kitty." Yuki said with slight interest.

**0**

After the petting ended, they headed to the next suspect.

Sekkou was blowing his nose, "Man, I can't believe HH kicked the bucket." He said with a sniffle.

"HH?" Takagi asked

Sekkou gave him a strange look, "Dude, you gay? Have you not seen those knockers she had? She was called HH for a reason." He said in a condescending voice.

"Ah, well, I'm uh, looking into someone el-" he tried to say, but Naruto stepped on his foot _by accident_ and gave him a glare.

Takagi just gave an awkward laugh while Yuki looked intrigued at the whole thing.

'_He's an interesting boy__.'_ Yuki thought to herself.

'_I don't feel it around him either.' _Naruto thought, "Hey, Halley and her manager were arguing earlier, are they always like that?" Naruto asked innocently.

Sekkou looked at Naruto and nodded, Yeah, they were. In fact, for some reason he just renewed her contract, when it was obvious that he wanted to get away from her." The camera man said.

Naruto nodded and Takagi looked at him strangely, wondering why he would ask that. They started to walk away when Yuki started to talk.

"You have an idea." Yuki commented when she saw a thinking look on the blonde's face.

"I do, hey Detective Takagi, can I see the autopsy report?" Naruto asked innocently.

Takagi looked at Naruto in surprise, "Why would you want to see that?"

"Just a little curious, I may find something someone missed." The blonde said.

Takagi shrugged and pulled out the copy of the report he got and handed it to Naruto.

"Did they run a rape kit?" Naruto asked seriously as he looked over the report.

Takagi blinked at him, how would he know about something like that?

"Um yeah, they did." The detective said with a nod.

Naruto grinned openly, "I got it." He said

**0**

"Sir, we found what was used to kill Holand-san." An officer said.

"What is it?" Megure asked

"It was a movable machine part from the stage's rafters. A remote button could easily be connected to it." The officer said

"The stagehand Rui was said to be very skilled." Sato commented, as she remembered Yoko's statement from earlier.

"I see." Megure said

**0**

Everyone gathered around.

Megure approached Rui, "Houjo-san, can we asked you a few more questions?" Megure asked

"Like what?" Rui asked in worry.

"You have the most experience for using the stage equipment right?" Megure asked.

"Yeah, so?" Rui asked as she waved her hand for him to get to the point, she had a stage to clear out.

"Then you would be glad to know that a remote was used to have Holand-san fall and hang to her death." Megure commented.

Rui gasped seeing where this was going, "I had nothing to do with it." She confessed in haste.

"I would still like to ask you some questions down at the station." Megure said

_'No, it's not her. She may have hated her, but she didn't do it.' _Naruto thought as he felt that feeling again, every time he was near Ko, he got that sick feeling that just told him something was up with him.

"Doesn't Sutoikku-san have stagehand experience too?" Naruto questioned out loudly all of a sudden.

"He's right." Yoko said with a gasp as she just remembered.

"Back in the day yes, but nothing to do with new technological stuff." Ko stated gruffly.

"No, I remember you asking around some of the little stagehands." Sekkou said as he stood by the camera and leaned on the on button, turning the camera on.

"So? I couldn't be curious about what they had replaced with what I once knew?" Ko asked further.

"Why did you hate Halley?" Naruto asked suddenly.

Ko jumped a little, "Child, I didn't hate her." He said

"Then way did you look at her with so much hate when she mentioned that you were her manager?" Naruto asked further.

"Because I thought she would be a hit, so I left Yoko-kun. It turns out that I made the wrong decision." Ko reasoned

"Was she blackmailing you?" Naruto asked, surprising everyone with that.

"What? Why would she?" Ko said with a sweat.

"She was pregnant right?" Naruto stated and Ko looked surprised.

"Ho-how, did you?" he said shakily.

"The autopsy report. From what I heard she had virginal scaring and a bit of an infection." Naruto said calmly, "From what I heard as rumors she had slept around a lot too. So she had an abortion most likely." The blonde said as he started to pace himself, "Your contract with her was done last year, right? But for some reason you renewed it even though she was going downhill. So this begs the question why you agreed to the renewed contract?"

"I-I…"

"Because she blackmailed you right?" Naruto pressed

"Y-yes." Ko said, "I told her how happy I was to finally have the contract over with. So she wanted to part with a drink. She drugged it with a rufie and slept with me." he said with tears, "I wanted to stay away from her, but she took pictures and she would make them public if I didn't renew the contract…I have a wife, if she found out, even if it was a rape…she would have left me." he whispered in fear.

"So you used your knowledge of her medication, drink habits and your stage knowledge to kill her, right?" Naruto said softly.

"Yes, she said she got pregnant and said she was going to keep it to taunt me. I-I didn't even know she had an abortion. I, I couldn't take it anymore!" Ko said in tears.

"It wasn't a good one since she gained an infection. So she might have done it quietly." Naruto said

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Ko said, he was nothing more than a shell of a man.

**0**

"I can't believe cute little Naruto-kun went all detective on live T.V.!" Yumi said at the Miwako breakfast table as she hugged Naruto.

Miwako was a bit miffed that Takagi let Naruto in on the case, but he proved invaluable to it in the end of it.

Yumi pulled out the paper that had Naruto's face on the cover labeled 'Detective Ouji-sama', "My mystery sleuth prince, please sign this mere commoners paper." Yumi said while batting eyelashes in an attractive way.

Naruto grunted at her and turned his head with a blush on his face.

"Also, Naruto-kun seems to have gotten a new fan last night." Miwako teased

Naruto turned an even brighter shade of red from remembering what happened. Yuki had given him her cell phone number on a spare bookmark and said he was interesting.

"Leave me alone!" Naruto pleaded

"By your command Ouji-sama." Both adults said in creep synchronization with matching grins.

Naruto just slammed his head on the table with tears coming out of his eyes.

'_Why me?_' He thought to himself out loud.

**0**

Meanwhile Conan was wondering about how Naruto managed to solve the case.

This was a regular complicated case that took someone with great deduction and analytical skills to solve and yet Naruto managed to do it on his own.

The Detective Boys couldn't solve the cases without him and Mouri would just be lucky find a clue to try and piece it together.

Naruto figured it out on his own and revealed the culprit as if he already knew it was him.

'_Who are you Naruto?'_

**0**

**(1)- This is a homage to Yuki Nagato from the **_**Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya**_**. Yuki just kicks ass!**

**(2)- Okay, his gut feeling is actually made up of three parts. Part one, from chapter two was his knowledge of body language or better yet just plain psychology. Part 2 from chapter three is his instincts, the way he noticed the time lapse between taps from Ayumi. In this chapter the final part is known, his NES or Negative Emotion Sensing for things like killing intent. He hasn't noticed it before, but a strong killing intent makes he feel nauseous. During the transfer between dimensions, Naruto gained this ability.**

**0 Omake 0**

Tim the Bouncers' excellent adventure~

Tim looked at his trusty list and back to the kid in glasses and a bowtie, "You are not on the list." He said

"What do you mean I'm not on the list? I'm on the main character!" Conan shouted in anger.

"No you're not." Tim said with crossed arms.

"What do you mean? My name is in the title!" Conan said as he pulled down the title 'Detective Conan'

"I thought your name was Jimmy?" Tim stated

"No, that's the Americanization of my name." Conan said, "It's actually Shinichi." He said with a shrug.

"I see." Tim said nodding, "But this is fanfiction, there for," he said as he pulled down the fic title 'Every Detective Has Their Shadow', "As you can see, your name is nowhere in sight." Tim said as he grabbed Conan's collar, "Now, scram!" he shouted as he threw Conan away.

Conan dusted himself off grumbling, "Damn upstarts." He said as he kicked a rock.


	5. Love Story, First Installment

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Detective Conan, please support the official release.**

**Challenge by Agurra of the Darkness**

**Co-written by: Masamune X23**

**Okay, so the reviews from the last chapter were good, I'm just glad I wasn't utterly flamed for an OC case.**

**Now I want everyone to know that Naruto's Negative Emotion Sensing will not always be working, it will flicker on and off at times so he can't just use it to find the bad guy instantly.**

**Also, in this is the episode where Conan and the gang really meet Sato, but I have so they already met before.**

**It is now time for the first of the Metropolitan Police ****Detective Love Story ****installments!**

**0**

Naruto, clad in sunglasses and a black hoodie, sneaking around the mob that was apparently looking for him and headed for school. The reason for this being that as soon he was out of his house and on his way to school he was assaulted by reporters that seemed to appear out of every direction as they all asked him different questions that he couldn't even understand due to all the different people talking at once.

Seriously, after that idiot turned on the camera during his deduction, people have just been hounding him. While the attention was nice and everything compared to Konoha, it was suffocating.

No wonder that Uchiha bastard had such a stick up his butt.

Naruto had been forced to run where he eventually lost them when he hide himself by sticking to the high ceiling of an old building. After that he was forced to return home to get some clothes to hide himself with so he could secretly make it to school safely.

He made it to the block where his school was located and his eye started to twitch.

Right there, in front of the gate was a bunch of reporters, no doubt looking for him, with the teachers blocking them off, bless their noble souls, from entering the premises while the other kids entered the school.

Thank Kami-sama for being a ninja, he thought as he focused chakra to his feet and walked up the wall around the school with no one looking and making sure to stay away from the window while he climbed. He jumped down and headed to one of the back doors to enter the school and released a sigh.

Sweet, sweet, sanctuary.

He walked down the hallway of the school and kept his disguise on just in case any of his classmates had become a fan of his.

Sadly the blonde failed to realize how his fangirls were going to react when they saw him.

Poor, poor, soul.

"Hey whiskers." The voice of Ai said, causing the boy to jump a few feet in the air in fright.

Naruto turned around to see the DB gang grinning at him.

"Ai-chan, don't scare me like that." Naruto whispered fiercely as he grasped his heart, feeling it slow down from the scare.

He had enough to be scared about dang it!

Ai had a sly smile on her face, "Whatever are you talking about whiskers, all I did was greet you…or should I call you Ouji-sama?" she teased and Naruto groaned as he pulled his hoodie further over his head to hide.

"You'll never let me live this down, will you?" the blonde questioned grimly.

Ai just smiled innocently, "Of course not~"

After that little interaction was done, Ayumi, Genta, and Mitsuhiko rushed Naruto and asked him many questions.

Naruto tried to answer them the best he could before Ai walked over and pulled out of the series of questions by the back of his hoodie. She then gave the three a look, "Come on guys, give him some breathing room," she said and Naruto sighed in relief, "Then you can bombard him all you want." She added with a teasing tone and the blonde paled with a gulp.

Conan gave a chuckle a little bit away as he watched the scene, _'Was it ever like this for me when I first started to solve cases?' _he pondered with amusement as the blonde tried to answer every question that was shot at him.

Conan couldn't wait for when the blonde entered class.

Priceless.

After taking a deep breath after finishing all the questions, Naruto turned to Conan, since Ai was being mean~

"You got any questions specs?" the blonde asked in a somewhat cheerful tone.

Conan took a second to think, "Yeah…just how did you know that the manager was the culprit?" he asked in a serious and curious tone.

Naruto shrugged, "I just had a gut feeling." He answered.

"That's really just evading the question." Conan countered.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at Conan's behavior, "I could ask the same thing to you about why you have a voice changing bowtie of all things on you." The blonde counted smoothly and smirked as Conan flinched a little to that.

'_I really don't give this kid enough credit.' _Conan thought as he was presented with Naruto's rebuttal, "Touché Naruto, touché." The bespectacled boy said in return and would save his questions for later when he could catch the blonde off guard and alone so they could talk seriously.

"So Naruto-kun, did you get any stuff from the concert?" Ayumi question.

Naruto hummed as he pulled out 5 of Yoko's newest CD's and were signed by the pop star herself and waved them in front of the group, "I was going to give them to you, but then Ai-chan had to be all mean~" he said with a smile as he knew what was going to happen next.

Ai narrowed her eyes at him "_Well played whiskers, well played_." she thought to herself.

As expected Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Ayumi turned to Ai, "Ai-chan, apologize to Naruto-kun." Ayumi said as the other two nodded in agreement.

They were basically saying, 'Say sorry so we can get those CD's.'

Truly they were such children.

Ai rolled her eyes, "I'm so sorry whiskers-Ouji-sama, please forgive this lowly commoner." She said with a slight bow, but from her tone of voice, it was easy to tell she was still mocking him.

Naruto's eye twitched before he sighed, knowing this was the best he was going to get when it came to Ai, "It's cool." Naruto said as he handed out the CD's. The kids cheered while Ai and Conan were just planning to give them away to the adults they lived with.

Conan chuckled; he could just see Mouri start tap dancing like an excited school girl at having this CD. Maybe he could also use it as leverage over Mouri for a special occasion.

As they filled into the classroom, the moment Conan was waiting for arrived.

And it was indeed priceless.

"Naruto-sama~!"

"Naruto-Ouji-sama~!"

"Ouji-sama~!"

All the girls in the class squealed loudly as they surround Naruto and started to hug him.

"Dear Kami-sama, help me!" Naruto shouted to his friends as he was begin swarmed and dragged down like a victim in quicksand.

He was too young to die from fangirls!

The DB looked at each other and nodded; they clapped their hands together and prayed for the blonde.

"Don't pray you baka's! Save me! Ahhh, who touch my butt?!" he questioned in a shout.

This continued for about 3 or 4 more minutes till their teacher finally arrived.

"Girls! Let go of Naruto-kun this instant." Kobayashi-sensei demanded with her hands on her hips as she tapped her foot menacingly.

The girls looked disgruntled at this and reluctantly let go and returned to their seats as they now revealed Naruto on the floor behind an empty seat.

"Are you okay Naruto-kun?" the teacher asked.

The response was a shaking hand rising from behind the desk as it grasped the seat and used it to lift himself up. When he was standing Naruto started checking himself.

"What are you doing?" Conan asked.

"Checking to see if anythings missing." Naruto said as if it was obvious as he continued to see if he was missing so much as a sock or lock of hair.

Seeing everything accounted for Naruto let out a sigh of relief and thanked his sensei, who nodded in return.

"Now I know we have a celebrity in class now, but that doesn't mean we can go all star struck on Naruto-kun, we need to respect his personal space and treat him just as we always have, I'm sure he would appreciate it." The sensei stated and everyone nodded while Naruto thanked Kami for having such a responsible teacher.

"Now before we start," Kobayashi started as she pulled out a newspaper with Naruto in the front page after solving the murder case and a pen while handing it to Naruto, "Could you please sign this Naruto-kun?" she asked and everyone minus Ai face faulted to the ground.

"Sensei you hypocrite!" the girls shouted in comical anger.

Kobayashi blushed, "I'm just getting something from one of my students…it has nothing to do with him being famous, not at all you see." She argued, but no one believed her.

Naruto sighed as he signed the paper and his sensei let out a squeal of happiness that she quickly covered up with a blush and a cough, "Please take your seat Naruto-kun." She said all casual like.

Class was relatively normal, well until it was lunchtime and Naruto had to sneak to the roof to feel any sort of security from his fangirls.

As the school day reached its end, Naruto had asked if he could go to the bathroom a few minutes before school ended…with all of his things.

Kobayashi said yes and Naruto dashed out of the room like a bat out of hell.

He saw reporters outside of his school gate and slightly cursed as he went around the back and hopped the wall and smiled widely at seeing Yumi.

"Have I told you how much I love you, like, a lot?" Naruto asked as he saw Yumi in her uniform with her squad car and put his bag in the trunk and sat in the front passenger side of the car.

Yumi hummed in thought, "Not today, no." she said with a smile.

"I love you." The blonde stated with a completely straight face as Yumi started the car and they drove off.

"You are really lucky I could do this you know. If I didn't get that text message of yours during my break, I don't know what would have happened to you." She said honestly as Miwako would have flipped if the blonde had been hounded by all the press that was after him.

"I probably would have ended up like what happened in class this morning." Naruto said with a shiver.

"What happened?" Yumi asked with interested while having a glint in her eye.

Something Naruto completely missed as he stared out the window of the car, "They surrounded me and kept talking and talking while grabbing me…one of them touch my butt for some reason." He finished with a shiver.

Yumi gawked at that last part, kids were growing up faster and faster these days it seemed.

Of course she would use this to tease him later~

They stopped at the Sato apartment and Naruto hopped out of the car and went to get his bag. He closed the trunk and walked to the driver's window, "Well I'm going to do some H.W. and relax, see you tomorrow." Naruto said as he headed up to his apartment.

"See ya at H.Q. tomorrow Naruto-kun~!" Yumi said with a wave and drove off.

Naruto entered the apartment and dropped his bag in his room and flopped onto the couch. He sighed as he turned on the T.V. and skimmed some channels while not really paying much attention to them. His mind wondered through all the attention he was getting now.

Honestly he could say it was nice, finally being seen, no longer sneered at, spat at, and so on.

And he could just be himself; he didn't have to hide how smart he was like he had to in Konoha in case they decided to attack him for being smarter than some of the kids in the academy.

Though unknowingly, the darker side of his mind thought they could all die…and he wouldn't even care.

He then did some H.W. and started to make dinner with some extra set on the side as his mother was going to be late tonight, but he was okay with that as he started listen to the new CD of Yoko's song he got.

He fell asleep at about 9:30 and was happy it was the weekend tomorrow.

Maybe something interesting would happen.

**0 The next day 0**

"Naruto-kun, time to get up." The voice of his mother called out to his slumbering form as he cracked his eyes open.

"The one down side of going to H.Q., waking up early…curse you sun." He muttered as he rose out of bed with a yawn. He washed his face and put on some fresh clothes as he headed for the breakfast table and sat down with a plop.

"Thanks for dinner last night, you could open a restaurant with how good the curry you make is~" Miwako teased as she placed the plate of eggs, toast, and bacon in front of him.

"Thanks for the food." Naruto said as he poured a cup of orange juice for himself and took a sip, "I think you're exaggerating, that was just some instant stuff I found in the cabinet." The blonde said as he took a bite of toast with some egg and bacon on it.

Miwako just shook her head as she took off her apron and looked at the clock, "We got about ten minutes Naruto-kun, just put the dishes in the sink when you're done. I have to make a few quick calls." The detective said as she headed to her room.

Naruto increased his pace and finished in about 4 minutes and put the dishes in the sink.

Miwako came in about 5 minutes later with her car keys in hand while wearing a black dress shirt and a red skirt with a matching jacket and black heels.

"All set?" she asked and Naruto nodded as the two headed for the car and drove to the station.

As they drove to the station, Miwako started a conversation, "So how's everything going with the whole fame thing Naruto-kun?" she asked with a little concern in her voice.

Naruto shrugged, "It's okay I guess, but I think it'll die down eventually so I don't have much to worry about." The blonde commented

"Yes, as long as you don't interfere with anymore cases." Miwako added sternly as she didn't want him to get involved with something like murder at such a young age. She was lucky the media didn't know where they lived otherwise they'd have no peace. It was one of the advantages of being a cop, their personal information wasn't available for civilians to acquire which made it easy for them to avoid the press.

Naruto gave an awkward chuckle, "I'll try my best, but I think trouble just loves to find me." he stated, "So what are we doing today?" he asked

"Well I have that interview with that bank manager's wife from the robbery three days ago, plus the manager himself called while you were asleep and asked to come in as well with his wife." Miwako said

Naruto nodded, "Can I listen in or do you want me to help with reports again?" he asked with slight dismay as filling reports were so boring in his opinion, at least tagging along with his mother promised at least something exciting.

"We'll see." Miwako said with a chuckle.

They pulled into Miwako's parking spot and headed inside while Naruto clipped on his guest pass to enter the building.

As they walked down the hallway, two female traffic cops bowed to Naruto, "Hello Ouji-sama." They said with a giggle as they walked away.

The blonde blushed at their action, "I blame Yumi-nee-san for this." He muttered

Miwako nodded, "Seems she enjoys tormenting you on this." She stated as she looked slightly amused.

Naruto gave her a blank look, "So do you it seems." The blonde muttered again.

Miwako just gave a smile in return as she found it cute at times to tease the blonde.

She could see why Yumi did it~

Since the bank manager's appointment was at around 5 P.M., Miwako decided to give Naruto something interesting to do.

Hang around the evidence lab till it was time for lunch and shadow Miwako for the rest of the day.

The blonde heavily agreed with that, as long as he didn't have to do evil paperwork.

_-Later that day-_

After an interesting lesson about forensics, Naruto could say he was hook on it and planned on reading any book his mother had at home on a later date.

He wandered around and saw something that really surprised him.

The Detective Boys were in the building…along with Professor Agasa.

As Naruto casually walked over, he overheard the kids asking Takagi if he had a girlfriend and let out a laugh that drew their attention to him.

"Naruto-kun/Naruto-san?!" was chorused out from the three kids while Conan and Ai looked somewhat surprised to see him.

"Yo." Naruto said in a casual wave as he had his other hand in his pocket.

"What are you doing here Naruto-kun?" Ayumi asked with curiosity.

"I always come here to hangout on the weekends…right Detective Takagi?" Naruto asked with a glint in his eye.

Takagi began to sweat a little, "H-Hai Naruto-kun." The man said with a stiff nod.

Conan blinked at Takagi's shaken form and wondered what his deal was.

"Hey Takagi-kun." Miwako said as she walked into the conversation.

"Oh!" Takagi said as he turned to see his crush, "S-S-Sato-san." He stated with a blush.

"Ah, it's Naruto-kun's Kaa-san!" Ayumi said as she remembered the female officer that helped arrested the bad guy that broke into her house.

"Ooh." Mitsuhiko and Genta said in awe.

Conan and Ai sweat dropped at their reactions.

"Oh, why are the Detective Boys here?" Miwako asked

"They are witnesses for the blue castle case." Takagi stated to his coworker.

"Huh? So those were those brave kids?" Miwako said in surprise.

Hm, she was finally understanding the Conan effect that Naruto ranted about every once in a while.

"Right. The suspect confessed everything, so we asked them to confirm the background of the story." Takagi continued, "Oh by the way, weren't you suppose to be investigating the 200 million yen robbery case with Inspector Megure?" he asked

"I got a call from the bank's manager last night. He said he had something to discuss with me. So both are at 2:00." Sato answered

"Why both of them?" Conan asked

"Apparently the wife of the manager was present during the robbery." Naruto said if he remembered what his mother told him earlier, when she gave him a quick brief about what happened.

"Yes," Miwako nodded, "She was held at gunpoint by the criminal, so maybe she remembered something about the case."

"But, that's odd…last night I received a similar call from the manager's wife." Takagi added as he cupped his chin in thought, "She wanted to tell me something she remembered about the criminal. So she would be coming alone at 5:00."

"Oh, the bank manager also mentioned that. He's afraid the criminal may attack his wife. That's why he wants to come during the day with her." Miwako commented

"So that's how it is…" Takagi said with a nod.

Conan and Ai frowned at that, while Naruto noticed their expressions.

"Officer Sato, I've brought the manager of the bank as requested." A random officer said as he saluted her with the large manager behind him.

"Ah, thanks for the trouble. Please join us." Miwako said to the manager.

**[Masou Keizou (53), Tokyo Bank Branch Manager]**

The manager walked up to them and looked at his wrist watch and let out a sigh, "It seems I made it in time." He said in relief.

"Oh, your wife isn't with you?" Takagi asked in surprise as he assumed she would have been with him.

"I had something to do at the bank." The man reasoned, "So I arranged to meet by wife here." He said as he looked around, "She still hasn't arrived yet?" he asked

Takagi nodded, "Right."

The manager looked at his watch again, "That's strange, is she still asleep?" he asked himself, "Officer-san, may I use your phone?" he asked as he pointed to the phone on the desk.

"Go ahead." Takagi said with a smile, happy to help.

The manager picked up the phone and began to dial and waited for it to be picked up on the other end while looking at his watch again.

"It's the third time." Ai said in a whisper and Ayumi looked at her questioningly.

"Huh? What is?" Ayumi asked her friend.

"That he looked at his watch, right?" Naruto asked and Conan nodded.

It seemed as though the wife picked up, "Yes, I'll put an officer on." The manager said and he handed the phone to Takagi, who held it to his ear.

"Hello, this is officer Takagi speaking. I assume you're still at home, is something wrong?" he asked, "Well your husband said the appointment was at 2:00, so we assumed you were coming. Eh, you didn't know?" Takagi said in surprise.

The manager looked shock and took the phone back roughly, causing Takagi to stumble to the phone and hit the speaker function, "Wait, what are you saying?!" the manager shouted into the phone.

Just then, a piecing scream shouted through the phone.

"Oh crap." Naruto muttered as he knew that was not a good sound.

"Here!" Takagi shouted as he took the phone back, "Hello, Miss? Are you there, Miss? What's wrong Miss?" he asked in a frantic tone.

"Takagi-kun, prepare the mobile team." Miwako ordered, "I'll get the car ready." She said as she rushed to the garage.

"Hai!" Takagi answered

"The mobile team?" Genta asked in confusion.

"They're the ones deployed for a field case." Mitsuhiko answered, "They're called the mobile investigation team. Right Conan-kun?" he asked while turning to the young detective, but didn't see him anywhere, "Conan-kun?" he asked

"Whiskers seems to have disappeared as well." Ai commented with some amusement.

**0 The Sato mobile 0**

"My wife is fine, isn't she?" the manager asked from the passenger side of Miwako's car.

"As of late, have you noticed anything suspicious?" Miwako asked, ignoring his question.

"Suspicious?" the manager said to himself in thought, "Right, that's right!" he said loudly in realization, "She saw someone suspicious outside last night."

Miwako nodded, "That must be one of the criminals." She stated, "Fearing that your wife may be able to identify them, they wanted to silence her." She stated bluntly.

"That can't be!" The manager said in shock, while Takagi in the back seat looked startled by this.

"It may have been a petty thief that caused her to scream." Takagi said as he tried to calm the large man down a bit.

"She was speaking with the police. Wouldn't she shout 'Thief' if it were so?" Conan asked from Takagi's left side in the back seat.

Takagi looked shocked, "When did you get in here?!" he asked in a frantic tone.

"Hm, I agree with specs on this one Detective Takagi. Plus, if it was a thief, he was pretty gutsy to pull something like this of mid-day." Naruto added from Takagi's right, thus startling the man again.

Conan looked somewhat shocked as he didn't even notice Naruto till now.

Sneaky blonde.

"Naruto-kun…" Miwako spoke menacingly.

"What?" Naruto asked cluelessly, "I saw specs sneaking here, so I decided to follow. Plus I'm pulling out the Conan Effect on this case now." The blonde said as he crossed his arms behind his head with a grin.

Conan gave him a deadpanned expression, _'Stop calling me a murder magnet damn it!'_ he shouted in his mind.

"What do we do about them?" Takagi asked

"No time to bring them back." Miwako said in a gruff tone, "We have to check on the woman." She said, "Naruto."

Naruto gave her a thumbs up as he was already belted in, "I'm strapped in. Conan, try not to bite your tongue…it's going to be one heck of a ride." The blonde said.

"Eh?" Conan blinked in confusion.

Miwako shifted gears and put the pedal to the metal!

While Naruto was safe with his seatbelt, Takagi and Conan were flying around the back like if they were on a roller coaster that failed to lock them safely in their seats, trying to keep themselves steady from the female detective's rough driving.

**0 Crime scene 0**

Miwako came to screeching stop as she made it to the house and everyone rushed in.

"Hey! Kayo? Kayo?" the manager asked.

"Officer, please head upstairs!" the manager asked, "I'll head to the hall." He stated

"Let's go Takagi-kun!" Miwako ordered as she rushed upstairs.

"Yes!" Takagi responded as he rushed after her.

As soon as Naruto entered with Conan, he smelt sweat mixed with fresh air.

As he and Conan walked down the hall to follow the manager, Conan turned to see a round hole in the glass of the window.

Naruto turned to see what he was looking at, "Well that answers that." Naruto muttered

"Hm?" Conan asked with interest.

"As soon as we came in, I smelt fresh air mixed with sweat. With that hole in the window, that explains the fresh air." Naruto reasoned, "So…perhaps a point of entry?" the blonde asked

"It could be." Conan stated, but he would have to see a bit more to be sure.

Just then, they heard that manager scream.

"What's wrong?!" Takagi shouted as he and Sato ran down the stairs.

Naruto and Conan followed suit and saw the manager on his bottom, crawling away from the room while uttering his wife's name.

They entered the room to see the wife face down on the wooden floor with a knife in her back and blood pooling around the wound.

"Ma'am!" Miwako said as she ran up to the downed woman.

"I'll call the ambulance." Takagi said

Miwako checked the woman's pulse and found nothing, "No, call the lab team and the coroner." She said in a regretful tone, "She's already gone."

"How…how is this…?" the manager muttered.

"Give me the time." Miwako said and Takagi looked at his watch, "Body found 2: 46 P.M." The man said.

"Who could be this evil?" said the manager as grabbed and asked Takagi with tears in his eyes, "Was it really those criminals, officer?" he asked further.

Conan narrowed his eyes in suspicion as he walked up to the body and looked around.

Naruto followed him and noticed the sweat around the woman. With the exercising bike, it was safe to assume that the woman was working out, so that was where the smell of sweat in the air was coming from.

The phone was still on as well, but that was somewhat of an idiot move to do. What if the murderer was overheard, why not just attack after she hung up? Naruto thought as he studied the scene.

The blonde took a quick glance at Conan and saw him looking at the manager, who was balling his eyes out to Takagi.

The man was good, that was for sure, but Naruto could tell he was acting. He had to do it for most of his life, so he could recognize an amateur for sure.

But the question was, what was he acting for?

_-After the lab teams arrival-_

"The victim is Masou Kayo-san, age 42. The murder weapon is a knife to the back." Miwako stated

"There's no indication of a struggle." An officer said, "That wound would have been fatal."

"The estimated time of her death is when she screamed." Sato said

"Eh? Officer Sato, you heard the victim scream?" another officer asked.

"The husband was at HQ speaking with the victim over the phone. I accidentally switched to the loudspeaker function." Takagi answered

"At that time…" the manager started, getting everyone to look at him, "I heard my wife cry out for help…"

"Then, during the phone conversation, someone assaulted her from behind?" an officer speculated.

"I don't believe she was only talking." Conan brought up.

"Eh?" everyone said to him.

"When we first walked in, Naruto said he smelt sweat in the air. Since she was riding an exercise bike," he said as he pointed to said bike, "She must have been riding it while on the phone." He stated

Naruto looked at him and decided to speak up too, not wanting to be left out, "Yep, and if you guys look closely, you can see some droplets of sweat around her body, while her clothes have sweat stains on them." The blonde surmised.

"Since all metabolic processes cease after death, even a high temperature wouldn't cause sweat. The sweat has yet to dry. That means, before the victim was killed, she was partaking in a demanding activity." Conan stated with a raised eyebrow, "Plus I searched the shoe cabinet and didn't see any jogging shoes. And in this room, the only thing capable to cause her to sweat…would be the bike."

Naruto frowned as he didn't look at the shoe rack as he didn't feel it was necessary.

"Hey," Takagi said as he knelt down to Conan, "Children shouldn't be near crime scenes."

Naruto shrugged, "Hasn't stopped me before Takagi-san." The blonde said.

Takagi sweat dropped as Naruto did have a point since he kinda solved a murder before.

"That was very good you two." Miwako praised with a wink.

"Well officer Sato, we'll speak with the neighbors. Perhaps there is a witness." An officer said as he and another office left the house to ask around.

"Also, don't forget to investigate this residence." Miwako ordered, "The motive may have been money."

"Hai!"

"No, this doesn't relate to greed." A smooth voice said.

Naruto groaned, "Wonderful, the pompous idiot is here." Naruto muttered, but loud enough for Conan to hear and look at him questioningly.

"The criminal's target was the life of this woman, that's my opinion." Said Shiratori

"Secondary Inspector Shiratori…" Takagi trailed off at see the man.

"Well I'm not the Secondary Inspector anymore; I've been promoted to full Inspector. Thus I will be assuming control of this case." The puffy haired man said.

"Not bad, you're adept at fawning." Miwako stated, "Always getting promotions…" she said as she walked up to him and pointed to herself, "If you don't mind, please allow me to assist in the investigation." She asked

"That's perfectly fine." The newly appointed Inspector said.

"You know him too?" Conan asked Naruto, since he had met the man before.

"A smooth talking brown nosier that thinks he's all that, plus he thinks he has a shot with Kaa-san…so basically he's one of my many enemies." Naruto said casually.

Conan blinked at the blonde in surprise.

He didn't think he was the over protecting child to a mother type.

Takagi, for some strange reason, looked shock at this development.

"Hey, how do you know it wasn't a simple theft?" Miwako questioned

"It was because of the scream during the telephone conversation. Normally, a thief wouldn't attack someone who's on the phone."

"Obviously." Naruto muttered and rolled his eyes as the man tried, and mostly fail, to impress his mother.

"If she saw the thief and screamed, he would have fled. Even so, wasn't the victim supposed to visit the station today?" Shiratori asked Takagi.

"Yeah, she said it was in regards to the bank robbery." Takagi stated, "She was supposed to come in with her husband, but she didn't show up at the appointed time. The husband was worried, so he called her."

Shiratori took a quick glance at the manager, who nodded to Takagi's statement, and turned back to Takagi, "During the phone call, did she happen to mention she was talking to the police?" he asked

"She noticed when I took the phone, that I was the officer from last night." Takagi answered

"Then there's no mistake. The criminal didn't want the victim to speak with the police, and thus murdered her." Shiratori stated to Miwako.

"Wait, that means…" Miwako trailed off.

"Right," Shiratori said with a nod, "The criminal must be one of the two bank robbers. During the robbery, the victim was held at gunpoint. That would place her near one of the robbers. I believe the criminal realized that she could identify him and murdered her to keep her quiet. Not to mention the victim was taken hostage…she struggled to get away and grabbed the intruder's mask."

"Yes, and by coincidence Megure's wife became the second hostage at the bank. She even volunteered to be a hostage." Takagi said

Shiratori and the manager looked surprised at that last part.

"Yes! My wife told me about a foreigner!" the manager said

Shiratori pounded his fist into his other hand and pointed to the manager, "Yes, that's it! I believe the lady was attempting to refer a clue to us." He said and turned to Takagi, "Takagi-kun, contact HQ, one of the criminals is foreign!" Shiratori said

"Hai!" Takagi said as he started to run out the house.

"But isn't it strange?" Conan asked out of the blue.

This caused Takagi to stumble and turn to hear what Conan had to say.

Naruto thought about, what was Conan getting at? Wait…

Naruto looked at the crime scene again…how was the victim attacked from behind, there was no door!

"There's a two meter gap from behind the bike and there's no door there." The black haired boy said.

"So basically…we're wondering how she was attack from behind without seeing it coming!" Naruto said as he got it, dang he was really falling behind here. He could see why Conan was so good at this.

But he would show that he wasn't some one hit wonder and only fluked out during the concert.

"Yep." Conan said with a nod, "Why would the criminal attack from that direction while she was riding the bike?" he questioned out loud.

"It's that kid again." Shiratori said with a sigh as he walked up to him and picked him up by the back collar of his shirt, "Aren't you allows following Mouri-san around?" he question

"Eh? What about me _Inspector_?" Naruto asked with his hands in his pockets while staring Shiratori in the eyes and had a bored look in them.

"Hm, it's seems you decided to jump the boat along with your friend here to see the case." Shiratori stated openly.

Naruto scuffed, "Have you had your head washed lately?" he taunted

Shiratori's eye twitched at that and knew what the blonde was talking about…oh he would so uncover the blonde for what he truly was sooner or later, he would bet the best wine in his collection on that!

All he had to do was bide his time, have a hidden camera on hand and wait for the blonde to slip up.

"But Conan-kun, even if you're stabbed in the back, the attack doesn't always originate from behind." Miwako reasoned, "It's possible that the victim saw the criminal coming and was about to flee, but was stabbed from behind."

"Then Kaa-san, wouldn't the body be in a different position if that was true?" Naruto asked

"Hm?" Miwako asked as she turned to see her son.

"I mean, if she was trying to run, why is her body still near the bike?" Naruto asked as he sent a quick smirk to Conan.

Conan raised an eyebrow to this and sighed in his mind, _'Oi oi, don't go thinking this is some kind of competition.' _The teen/child thought as he now could see for all his maturity, that Naruto was still a kid at heart, "Yep and since the phone is right near her and there's no trail of sweat around the room, right?"

Miwako hummed as she cupped her chin, "You both have a point." She said with a nod.

"Masou-san, did your wife usually ride the bike during the day?" Shiratori asked

"Yes. Each day at 2:00 she would exercise on that bike." The manager answered

"Excuse me for asking, but what time does she normally wake up?" Shiratori asked further.

"I'm always required to leave early for work, so more recently though, she had begun to drink out with some friends and return late at night. So I would gauge around noon." The husband answered.

Shiratori gave a chuckle, "Then I have the answer." He claimed, "If my reasoning is correct…" he said as he walked over to the curtain that was behind the bike, "the criminal was hiding on the shelf behind the curtains!" he declared as he pulled the curtain away to show a few empty shelves, "Hey hey, this is convenient. There aren't many books here and it's possible for a person to hide here."

"There aren't many other obstructions." Miwako stated as she looked, "Only this single curtain is, unlike the others, beige in color."

"The curtain is meant to modify the color scheme, and it was installed just recently." The manager answered, "We were also planning to change the other curtains…"

"But can it really conceal a person?" Miwako asked

Shiratori lifted the shelves from the bottom, showing it was easy to move them, "If you remove two pieces, an adult could easily hide here." The Inspector stated, "As you see, that is what the criminal did." He stated in nothing but confidence.

"The criminal observed the residents' schedules. And then with the husband gone, he snuck in before the wife awoke from her night out on the town. He then concealed himself in the shelf and awaited the murder victim. With the victim on the bike, her back was unguarded. However, his plans were foiled slightly. For better or worse, the police called. The anxious criminal quickly committed the crime. The criminal entered through the window with the missing glass." Shiratori explained

Miwako hummed in thought, "That's right. The wife had claimed to witness someone suspicious in the area." She said as she cupped her chin, "Then he familiarized himself with her living habits…that's not too surprising."

Conan thought about it, but he noticed that there was something missing from that deduction.

'_No…' _the boy thought as he looked at the manager, _'He somehow did it.' _

Naruto was thinking along the same lines, but why didn't he feel it like before?

Was it an on and off kind of feeling? The blonde questioned in his head.

"Secondary Inspector Shiratori, I've searched the victims' bedroom. The jewels and valuables seem undisturbed. It's seems the possibility of thievery has declined." The officer from before said.

Shiratori looked smug, "So that's how it is. Alright, you two visit the neighbors and ask of anything suspicious from the last few days. Ask about any strangers and their activities."

"Yes, sir!" they said as they turned to leave.

"Oh and…" Shiratori said, getting the two officers to turn around, "I have recently been promoted from Secondary Inspector to Inspector." He said pointing to himself, "Is that understood?" he asked

"Yes, I understand." One of the two officers said.

Naruto blanched, "What a ham." Naruto muttered under his breath with a frown.

He hated smug guys like Shiratori.

"Hey there, Inspector Shiratori-san." Conan said getting the puffy idiots' attention.

Naruto turned to Conan; he had something, didn't he.

"Hm?" Shiratori said while turning around to Conan with his hands on his hips, "Boy, you should go home. I'll arrange a ride for you." He said

'_And what about me?' _Naruto thought to himself as he looked at Shiratori.

"D-Don't you think it's strange?" Takagi asked

"Hm?" muttered Shiratori

"The culprit murdered the victim as she spoke with the police, right?" Takagi asked, "Why would he restore the bookshelf to its original condition? The culprit should have known the police would respond immediately."

Miwako walked over to the other curtain next to the assumed hiding spot of the murderer and pulled the curtain.

"As for that…" Shiratori rambled, trying to debunk the flaw in his theory.

"It's a peculiar point. One shelf is filled with books, so no one could hide there." Miwako stated with wonder.

"Inspector Shiratori!" an officer carrying a large red book said rushing over to the man.

"W-What is it?" Shiratori asked

"I found a strange photo album in the victim's room." The officer said as he opened it, "Take a look." He said, "There are circles on some photographs."

Masou panicked and rushed for the book, "A-Ah, those are…those are little marks by my wife." He said nervously, "I told her those little marks would hinder the photos."

As that was happening Conan had a smile on his face.

Naruto on the other hand frowned as he looked at the body once more.

She was stabbed from behind clearly…but the knife…the knife!

He knew some basics about using a knife, normally you with stab while holding the knife right side up, or bring it down upside down. And with the way the grip is, you don't normally stab someone sideways!

A small ouch brought him from his muses and he turned to see the manager sucking on his finger as he had hurt it somehow.

"Shiratori-kun, we should call in the crime scene team." Sato said as she folded her arms, "There are still some uncertain factors in this case." She said

Shiratori looked upset, "Well then I'll ask you people: who's the criminal?" he asked, "But one fact remains: The criminal invaded this house. That's the starting point for our reasoning." He said with confidence, "Just look around you. There's no place to hide and commit the murder in this room, right? Don't tell me the knife flew on its own."

Conan looked shocked at that last line.

Deciding to bring up what he found, Naruto spoke, "Hey Kaa-san." He said getting everyone's attention.

"Yes Naruto-kun?" Miwako asked

"If what Shiratori said is right, why is she stabbed sideways?" Naruto said, "I mean, with the grip on it, wouldn't that feel a bit uncomfortable? Wouldn't one usually stab with the knife vertically?" he asked

'_Nice one Naruto.' _Conan thought with a grin, the kid was good, that was for sure. He then walked over to the other side of the bike and had a larger smile at seeing what was around the pedal and looked at the top of the book shelf. He quickly climbed to the top of it and looked around.

The adults who were looking at the knife, turned to see Conan climbing up and rushed over.

"C-Conan-kun." Takagi said

"Get down, boy." Miwako ordered in a mother-like tone.

A flash of recognition flashed over Conan's eyes and he looked at the manager with a smile as Takagi brought him down.

"Well with what Naruto-kun has brought up, the answer is somewhat simple." Shiratori stated, "The culprit attacked the victim from behind and knocked her to the floor and by using his knees to hold her down, he was able to kill her that way."

Naruto made a buzzing noise, "Wrong. If she was on the floor, wouldn't she try to escape? That's what Kaa-san said earlier. Plus there's no trace of sweat nearby."

"And the phone that fell on the floor looks odd." Conan added

"That's right. After the scream…Takagi-kun tried to call the victim. The culprit should have heard it." Miwako said as she cupped her chin in thought, "If he knew the caller was with the police, why wouldn't he cut the phone's power?" she questioned, "If he didn't disconnect the line, he may have left a clue to his voice behind." She surmised and Conan nodded to her with a smile, "And if the police had heard his voice…" she trailed off.

"That's true; the criminal would usually attempt to leave quickly." Shiratori said with a bead of sweat on his brow, "If that's true, then the criminal may have identified himself by leaving his knife. He shouldn't have left this at the crime scene, right?" he asked

"Ah, but when we can in…the living room door was locked." Takagi stated

"Eh?" Shiratori said in surprise.

"If the criminal was leaving quickly…why would he bother to lock the door?" Takagi asked

"Moreover, how did the criminal enter?" Miwako added, "The glass windows are all still locked and attached."

Shiratori looked a little uncomfortable now.

"Inspector, this case is getting more and more peculiar, isn't it?" Conan questioned childishly and Naruto snickered at that, "After seeing the evidence, I believe the victim was alone here. It's definitely peculiar."

"The boy is right." Miwako stated, "We're going to have to investigate this room more thoroughly."

"Then you actually believe the victim died from…a flying knife on its own, and inflicted a critical wound?" Shiratori questioned with a scuff, "Then that means you would have seen that when you found the victim."

Conan then ran over to the other side of the bike once more and exclaimed a surprised tone, "What is this string for?" he questioned as Naruto walked over and saw the wound of string along the inner part of the pedal.

"String?" Shiratori asked as he walked over as well to look, "What's wrong with it?" he asked

"Look here." Conan pointed out, "There's a wound of string inside. Right?" he asked questioningly.

"Well, there is a wound of string inside." Shiratori said in a tone that didn't really catch the significance from it.

Miwako walked over with the manager and asked him, "Do you know what this string is used for?"

"N-No…" the manager said.

"What? It's only some string that got caught inside." Shiratori said as he waved it off.

Conan hummed as he unwound it and pulled it out, "But look at the end of the string." He pointed out, "There's a loop on the end." He said

Naruto blinked, _'Could he have used that to kill her? Loop the string around the knife and as she pedaled, if flew from the cabinet and killed her? He was in here first.' _The blonde thought, _'But the loop is too small for the knife handle.' _He thought with a frown.

"Here." Conan said as he handed it to Sato, who looked it over.

"It's true, that is a little strange." She admitted

The manager clapped his hands loudly, getting everyone's attention, "Right, now I remember!" he stated, "About half a year ago, my friend's child was in here. He was playing near the bike I believe. It must have been something he did back then."

"But even so…" Miwako started

"There's no reason to think about that Sato-san, after all what significant role would string have?" Shiratori said to her.

Takagi was in deep though for a moment before he was struck by an idea, "Wait a second!" He shouted getting both the other detectives attention.

"What if...what if from the top of the book shelf. The knife was held in place by tape and with the curtains concealing the sunlight what would've revealed the string...the winding of the string would begin as soon as someone uses the aerobic bike. After enough use, the bookshelf would fall and the knife would stab the victim!"

Both Sato and Shiratori gasped at the new theory they just heard while the banker also gasped at what he heard.

"Well that's an interesting theory, but doesn't that rely on luck for it to work?" Shiratori asked Takagi as even though he found the theory possible it still sounded like a gambling type of scenario, "After all many things could've gone wrong with it."

"No, it would most likely go as the culprit had planned it." Sato said as she suddenly spoke up while looking at the other shelf, "Just beside that shelf...there is another shelf of books, so it couldn't have fallen any other way. If the target was to ride that bike at the time then the shelf would eventually fall on top of the victim."

Shiratori leaned back as he still had doubts, "But no matter which method, the bike would've still reacted to the increasing weight."

Sato now smiled, "Don't you know? Aerobic bikes have a strong resistance. If the victim had maintained that speed, there wouldn't be a problem."

Shiratori now leaned forward with some doubt still lingering, "But wait...When you found the body the bookshelf wasn't on top of it, right? Even if the culprit snuck in to use this method, then wouldn't he also stay to assure that his plan actually worked?"

Takagi narrowed his eyes, "There's only one person..."

"Hmm?" Both detectives said as they turned to him again.

Takagi continued, "Who could restore the bookshelf to its original position. There's only one person who could have performed this trick."

Conan and Naruto were now smirking seeing that Takagi figured it out.

"That person knew the layout of this house and the schedule of the victim...the one arrived in this room before everyone else...Masuo Keizou-san. It can only be you!" Takagi said as he pointed to said man accusingly.

Masuo stepped back in shock and growing fear, "What...what do you mean!?"

"I see now." Sato said as she put the pieces together, "That's why you called from the police station. As long as you knew your wife rode her aerobic bike at 2:00pm every day, you could be assured the knife would kill her after a while. If you were with us when she was killed you would acquire a perfect alibi. By giving the phone to Takagi-kun you ensured one of us was talking to her during that time."

"That's why when we arrived, you ordered us upstairs." Takagi said with conviction.

"I see now, you took advantage of our absence and restored the bookshelf to its original position." Sato said sharply.

"Please don't say silly things like that. See if any police officers had come here before me, they would've seen the knife and the bookshelf together." Masuo said nervously.

"I guess it was like this wasn't it Oji-san?" Conan suddenly spoke up as they all turned to see him on top of the bookshelf placing a paper folded knife he had made with some spare paper, where the real one would've supposedly been, "See the upper part of the shelf is tightly packed with books. If a knife was inserted in this slot then there would be no need for tape. The more top heavy then the easier it would fall."

Naruto smirked as he saw Conan's explanation and secretly saw Masuo glaring at Conan.

"I see! That means, after the knife struck the victim, the books from the shelf fell around the body." Takagi began saying what must've happened.

"And the bookshelf was restored, effectively concealing the trick." Sato continued for Takagi.

"But wait boy...If the knife had been up there then my wife would've seen it." Masuo said even more nervously.

"Then you mean..." Conan began as he reached for 2 books from a lower shelf and placed them on top of the shelf as they concealed the knife now, "Even like this?"

Masuo gaped.

"That's it! This way the knife wouldn't be discovered and it explains why the victim was stabbed sideways."

Sato look impressed, "Not bad boy."

"Even with the books lying around everywhere on the floor, the police would easily claim that it was caused during a struggle between the victim and the killer." Takagi explained as Conan nodded, "And then no one would know about the trick!"

Shiratori turned to a shaking Masuo. "Is this true Masuo-san?" he asked despite knowing what might already be confirmed.

"The...string...what about the string?" Masuo asked in an almost desperate tone, "If the string was connected to the curtain, the police would discover the trick in a moment and regardless you don't have any evidence that I'm the culprit."

Conan seemed to suddenly appear next to Masuo as he took his hand and examined it as he spotted something he was expecting to find. "What's wrong Oji-san? What is it that injured your finger?"

Masuo panicked as he pulled his hand away from Conan.

"Ah I see. When you put your handkerchief in your pocket you looked hurt." Conan said in his child like tone that was starting to seem rehearsed to Naruto for some strange reason.

Shiratori narrowed his eyes.

Sato stepped forward, "Then does that mean you have something in your pocket?"

"Would you mind showing us?" Takagi asked reaching his hand out.

"Inside of his pocket there should be nails and tape. Each probably stained with the victims' blood." Shiratori revealed

"How do you know that?" Sato asked

Shiratori pointed to the bookshelf, "There is smeared blood on the bookshelf. It told me something must've been tapped there. After he fastened a nail to the shelf, he attached the strings loop. By doing this it would detach as the shelf fell and then, the string would retract into the bike."

"But if the police found the blood and nail how would you explain it?" Takagi questioned.

Shiratori hmp'd before walking towards the bookshelf, "The nail connected to the aerobic bike was actually placed there by the wife. Her blood being there is a mere coincidence."

Masuo now looked down as he knew there was no escape now.

"So that's the explanation, since evidence is more worthy than theories let's experiment. I believe the item in your pocket will work well with the shelf." Shiratori said in with a more serious face that looked slightly intimidating.

Masuo let out a sad smile, "It's useless without practice; many nights...I practiced this trick many times to perfect the angle. It's odd; I only removed this thing as a precaution after restoring the shelf. But instead it became a clue.

"Why did you kill your wife!?" Takagi almost seemed to demand the answer from him.

"For the insurance payout. I insured my wife's life with a beneficial sum. After the bank robbery I needed the money from my wife." Masuo answered.

Sato sighed, "Even with assistance you would've been discovered. The assistance to steal from your own bank!" Sato revealed earning disbelieving and stunned looks from everyone (minus Conan and Naruto).

"Eh!, is that true?" Takagi questioned as he couldn't believe what he heard.

Sato nodded, "Yes it's true he's the one who planned it. With the bank manager planning it, the robbery wouldn't face many troubles. The unfortunate issue is how your wife incidentally came by the bank at that time. It seems they accidentally took her hostage. It wasn't until later you realized your wife could identify your associate. You didn't want the police to discover this so you silenced her."

"Then during the robbery, the idea to interchange hostages..." Shiratori began.

"Was because she was the culprit's wife." Takagi finished the sentence.

Masuo feel to his knees in despair seeing everything was found out.

"But how did you know about it?" Takagi asked Sato.

"Hey, isn't there a picture album with certain pictures encircled? Your wife was going to bring those pictures to the police station and then confirm they were the robbers. You've been holding that picture book for awhile now right Naruto-kun?" She asked sweetly to her son as they turned to see him holding the photo album with a small grin as he nodded.

"People tend to pay less attention to a kid at a crime scene." Naruto said, since he had taken the album to look at it when the manager had placed it down and wasn't looking.

Two hours later…The two robbers were arrested at home while counting the stolen money. Thus assisting in solving both cases at once. In Masuo-san's confession, He claimed it was his wife's expensive tastes…that caused him to engineer the robbery. For money to also be the reason for killing his wife…it's an unfortunate case.

**0 Police station, Chief's office 0**

"Hey, I've heard about it Shiratori!" the tall chief said in an excited tone, "How you solved a case just after being promoted to Inspector! That's impressive!"

Naruto, who was standing next to his mother, scuffed, like that nitwit could solve anything without jumping to conclusions without looking at all the facts.

Shiratori bowed his head, "Don't praise me that way Chief Matsumoto. Such simple matters hardly require my attention."

"That's right, because those matters…were solved by the boys here." Miwako said with a hint of pride as ruffled both Naruto and Conan's hair.

"Hm?" The chief said, "Your son and that boy who's always around Mouri?" he asked

"Both were pretty good and knew a lot." Miwako praised

Conan rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, "It was nothing major." He said

"I'll be sure to help out again." Naruto said with a smile as he laid both hands behind his head while closing his eyes to give him a fox-like look.

"That's true." Shiratori admitted, "Children see things differently, that is how they notice things we do not." He said while looking at Conan.

Conan gave a weak laugh at the new attention he had.

As they left the off and headed into the hallway, Miwako pulled up her sleeve to look at her watch, "Oh no, it's already late." She said, "It's no wonder I'm hungry." She admitted

Takagi blushed a little, "Um, Sato-san…if possible, would you join me…" he started, but was cut off by Shiratori.

"Would you like to join me for dinner?" Shiratori asked with a flirty smile.

He was about to say more, but Naruto cut him off, "Nee Kaa-san, I kinda have to finish some homework so how about we hit the ramen shop on the way home?" he asked

Miwako smiled, "Mmm, that sounds great." She said and turned to Shiratori, "Sorry, but I'll pass." She said.

Shiratori looked shocked, "I-I see." He said as he turned around and slumped away in despair.

'_We didn't have any homework this weekend though.' _Conan thought and cracked a smile at seeing Naruto take pleasure in Shiratori's defeated form.

Truly a terrifying boy.

"Ah, Takagi-kun, you want to join us?" she asked, startling the officer.

Takagi blushed, "Yes! It's my pleasure!" he said loudly.

Naruto tsk'd in annoyance, _'Oh someone hasn't learned his place yet huh? Well we'll just have to see about that won't we, kukuku~'_ he thought as a grin came across his face at his soon-to-be prank victim. Oh he had plenty of new pranks he wanted to test out and now he was going to get his crash test dummy.

"Oh, Sato-kun, Takagi-kun!" the voice of Inspector Megure said as he came into the hallway.

Everyone turned to see him.

"How about it? A drink for the closed case?" Megure asked, "The others have already gone to the bar."

"My apologies, but I have to get Naruto-kun home you see." Miwako said in an awkward smile.

Megure nod, "I see, I see. Well then Takagi-kun, let's go!" Megure said as he looped an arm around Takjagi's shoulder and led him away.

"Ah, but but Inspector, ah ramen with Sato-san!" he said in duress as he was pulled away.

Naruto chuckled, serves him right, the blonde thought happily that Takagi wasn't going to join them, but slightly dissapointed that his test dummy was now gone when he was looking forward to testing out some new experimental pranks.

Oh well~

**0 Sato apartment 0**

Naruto was reading once again at a fast pace in his mother's small office area.

"I thought you had homework Naruto-kun?" Miwako said as she walked in with a cup of ramen and slurped the noodles.

"Ah," Naruto said looking embarrassed, "Turns out I already did it, false alarm." He said to cover up his lie.

"Well that's good." She said as she looked at what he was reading, "Hm…working hard I see~" she teased, but stopped when she saw Naruto frowning, "What's wrong?" she asked as she put her ramen cup down.

Naruto sighed as he ran a hand through his hair, "Conan was so good today…and I, I guess you can say I felt left behind." He muttered, "I mean, were the same age, right? But he seems for far ahead of me." he admitted in a sad tone.

Ah, so he was jealous at how well Conan had out done him, or so he felt, today, "Naruto-kun, you and Conan-kun are two different people. You'll be fine, just keep learning and keep looking at this from a unique prospective." Miwako said as she hugged him.

Naruto nodded, "Hai!"

**0**

**Done and done!**

**Now, as to why I'm not writing that fast during a vacation? Well I'm taking a 10 day winter class in college, so I got some more to do before I have a week and a half off to write before school starts again. So bare with it!**

**As to why Naruto didn't have a big role in this chapter, it was simple too much of a Conan chapter to get him really in there. Plus, he saw he still has a way to go before he could really be a big detective. You could think of this like a humbling chapter of sorts so Naruto doesn't get a big head and see Conan as a rival of sorts, but will also learn from him too.**

**R&R, no flames, peace off!**


	6. Love Story, Second Installment

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Detective Conan, please support the official release.**

**Challenge by Agurra of the Darkness**

**Co-written by: Masamune X23**

**Sorry for the delay, but I'm sure everyone here who goes to college knows how much of a hassle finals can be. Studies come first and foremost. Now that they're done along with this semester, I have 3 whole months to write all I want, yay!**

**This is Episode 156-157, known as Metropolitan Police Detective Love Story 2.**

**Beta'd by Snipa**

**0**

Over the past month, Naruto had helped the police with a few more cases, thus causing him to become more famous then he was before. People were calling him the next Kudo Shinichi. But he didn't believe that, Kudo Shinichi was much much better than him, where ever he was now, and the blond still had a long way to go to even reach that level. For now, he would just continue helping the police the best he can and gain experience that he would no doubt need in the future.

He had tried to figure out what that strange feeling was during the Charity event, but only felt it once or twice during the cases he was on.

So, he made a list that could cause it to react.

First, negative emotions.

During those cases where he felt the phenomenon, the culprit held anger towards the victim or regret and sadness for doing the deed.

Second, the strength of the negative emotion.

As to why it didn't happen every time, he speculated that somehow the strength of the emotion determined its activation and how well the person could hide keep their emotions in check.

Third, self preservation.

During one case, he was nearly attacked by the one he was suspecting to be the culprit, which the attack was most likely due to the fact that the blond had kept finding clues. Before the man managed to strike him and run, Naruto jumped away and his mother arrested the man, on 3 charges, murder, attacking the investigation team which he was a part of as a consultant and for attacking him, her son.

Well 2 charges, but you get the point.

At least he got paid, that was a good thing for his allowance.

Those were the only things that he could think of so far as to way that strange sensing power activated.

Anyway, on to things involving his social life.

He chatted with Yuki once in awhile, just to hangout and sorts. Their usual spot was either a book store or a library, but that suited him just fine. Until he was spotted by a fan or something, then it was time to run. Though Yuki still read her book while running somehow, it was kind of cool in his opinion.

He hung out with the Detective Boys when he could and had heard them getting involved in some rollercoaster case and Conan getting involved with some performer and a bungee jump.

Once again, the Conan Effect Theory had proven true.

Seriously, it was like some force in the universe made people die or commit crimes around Conan.

Maybe he should be put in a hospital or perhaps somewhere isolated where he can't hurt anyone.

Of course that line of thinking never stopped him from telling said subject of the theory.

Who knew that Conan could turn such a shade of purple?

Currently, Naruto was walking home with Conan and Ai. With his arms crossed behind his head he walked a bit ahead of the duo, "So what are you guys doing today?" he asked as he turned to face them while continuing to walk backwards, "We have that thing with Mitsuhiko tomorrow since we're off from school, so we have time before we start our acting career." The blond joked.

Ai with her nose in a nameless book she carried spoke, "Hm, I was thinking of just reading today." She says in a blunt yet casual tone.

Conan rubs his chin in thought, "Huh, I guess I'll just watch T.V. or something since we don't have any homework this weekend." The bespectacled boy said with a shrug.

Naruto pursed his lips, "How dull~" he said as he turned to walk forward, "You sound like a bunch of old people." he commented in a light teasing tone, "Would you like so prune juice with that?" he asked in a mock waiters tone as he turned his head to see their reactions.

Conan just gave the blond boy a deadpan look as Ai raised her eyes from her book and knitted her brow, in a cute manner in the blond's opinion, at him.

Naruto just gave a light laugh at the looks and he bumped into someone, landing on his butt…of course in a totally awesome way of course.

"Are you okay?" a kind female voice asked.

"Ran-nee-chan?!" Conan said in surprise.

Naruto looked up to see a teenage girl an slime athletic build, brown hair that straight and hip-length tucked behind her ears with short wavy bangs over her forehead. She had blue eyes and wore a school uniform.

"Ah Chibi-chan and friends." Said the bored voice of the other girl. She had straight shoulder length brown hair and a band that held back her fringe and wore the same uniform as Ran.

Ran helped Naruto up and dusted him off.

"Thanks nee-san." He said as he flashed a smile.

"No problem." Ran said with a smile too.

"Naruto, this is Mouri Ran-nee-chan and her friend Suzuki Sonoko-nee-chan." Conan introduced politely.

"Ah, then you're Mouri-san's daughter I guess, nice to meet you and your friend." Naruto said with a light bow, "I'm Sato Naruto, a pleasure."

"Ah, the chibi Meitantei-Ouji-sama!" Sonoko stated as she pointed at Naruto, who just tilted his head to the side in a cute way.

The older girls just had to hold in the kawaii they wanted to say at the little blond.

Naruto scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, "Yeah, that's me." he said with a light shrug.

"Eh," Sonoko hummed as she got right into Naruto's face, "So this is the future Shinichi-kun~" she said with a cat-like smile.

"Um…" Naruto trailed off feeling a little unconformable at the invasion of his personal space.

"Hm, natural blond hair." She said as she looked at it, "Nice blue eyes." She hummed at closer inspection, "A natural perfect tan." She stated as she looked at his whisker marks and touched them…getting a low purr from Naruto's throat, "…Kawaii!" she said as she snuggled Naruto.

"Sonoko!" Ran shouted

'_Hehehe, take that Naruto.' _Conan thought in sweet revenge for the blond's stupid theory.

'…_He actually purrs huh? That's nice to know.' _Ai thought with a small smile.

"Oh, he is definitely a keeper. Ai-chan, don't lost him~" Sonoko teased for fun.

Ai looked up from her book and gave a sly smile, "Of course, he'll be a real lady killer in the future, just look at the picture of his father." She stated and Naruto started to pale and cursed for showing Ai that picture.

"Sonoko." Ran said with a knit brow while she had her hands on her hips and tapped her foot.

Sonoko rolled her eyes, "Hai hai." She said as she put Naruto down.

Naruto turned to Ai, "Do I have too?" he asked

Ai just gave him a smile…a scary one.

Even Conan shuttered from it.

Naruto whimpered a bit, but complied and pulled out the photo of his father from his wallet.

Sonoko looked at it and her jaw literally hit the floor, so did Ran's.

"That…that…" Sonoko tried to say as the words just kept failing her, "That is one of the most hottest guys I have ever seen." She stated honestly as she looked at Naruto, "I could honestly say I could wait a few years." She said bluntly.

"Sonoko!" Ran shouted scandalized.

"What?"

Conan snickered at Naruto, who gave him a dirty look that promised revenge, REVENGE!

"Fine." Sonoko said as she waved off the idea, "Ai-chan keep him on a tight leash and don't let this future bishonen get away!" the wealthy girl declared while pointing at the girl.

"Hai hai." Ai said plainly from her book, not really caring.

Sonoko deflated at the lack of care in that response. Can't this chibi see the hottie ten years from now?

You'd have to be blind not too!

"Anyway." Ran said as she knelt down to Naruto's level, "It's nice to meet you face to face Naruto-kun, I saw you on T.V. and heard about you from tou-san and Conan-kun." She said with a warm smile and held out her hand.

Naruto took the hand and shook it and noticed the calluses, "Do you do martial arts?" he asked the older girl.

Ran and Conan blinked, "How'd you know?" she asked him.

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck, "Well, the way you move, your toned legs, the calluses on your hands along with your firm grip, it just kind of screams training." He stated simply.

Okay, for him to be able to do that…well…it's really impressive. Conan thought and Ran shared that same thought and felt as though she was looking at a younger Shinichi.

"I do karate." Ran simply answer, though she noticed that Naruto's face lit up while Conan's paled…a lot.

"So do I!" the blond exclaimed as he ran up to one of the walls on the street and gave it a good spin kick, getting it to crack slightly.

"Eh?" Sonoko, Ran, and even Ai, though she just had widened eyes, looked at the crack.

'_It's a chibi male Ran!' _Sonoko thought in awe with a slice of fear.

Anyone that can do that is sooo not normal.

"Sugoi! For someone your age, that's just amazing!" Ran said as she ran up to the blond and looked over his stance, it was a bit rigid, but that was probably because he just started or something, it was still amazing, "We should spare some time, I could give you some tips." She stated, as it would be so cool to teach him, if he was already this strong, imagine when he got older!

And so the karate girl and the ninja boy had met.

Conan cried for the rest of the night.

**0 The next day 0**

Naruto and Ai were standing in front of each other as the sunlight of the window washed over them and painted the room in an orange light, bringing a dramatic atmosphere between them as they gazed at each other.

"I'm not wrong." Ai said to Naruto, "She discovered your identity." She said as a sharp glint entered her eyes, "If you keep hiding it from her, you'll just hurt her more." She finished as she closed her eyes.

"Oh." Naruto said as he crossed his arms and gained a dark glint in his eyes, "Why would you be telling me this, hm?" he asked in suspicion.

Ai chuckled daintily at his suspicion, "I see. You can see into the hearts of the wicked, but you can't understand a woman's heart, can you?" she asked in tickling amusement.

Naruto waved his hand to and fro, "Perhaps I do, perhaps I don't." he stated bluntly.

Ai just smiled, "I'm in love with you." She confessed a warm tone, "I have been since the first time we met." She stated softly as she walked up to Naruto and held his cheek as his eyes widen in shock, "Seems you didn't even notice. Kamen Yaiba-san."

"Cut! Cut!" said the voice of Mitsuhiko as he walked up to them with the rest of the Detective Boys.

Naruto's eyes relaxed as Ai took her hand away and seemed to relax as well.

"That was right on the Naruto-kun! The emotions were in all the right places, the dark foreboding, the twist of words; it was great for the scene where the spy who betrayed Kamen Yaiba confesses her love for him." Mitsuhiko said with a nod as he held the so called script in his hand.

Naruto scratched the back of his head, "Why _am _I doing this anyway? Couldn't specs do it?" he asked as Conan gave him a dull glare for trying to push this on him.

"Ara ara, not happy having me as a partner, Kamen Yaiba-san~" Ai teased with a small smile.

Naruto scuffed, "Of course I'm not Ai-chan, I mean, you're smart, fun, pretty. Also a good actress too." He said, earning a small surprised blush from Ai.

The other kids just snickered at her.

"Hey!" Genta shouted, "You got it lucky, I have to be the evil potato!"

"Naruto-kun, you and Ai-chan are just perfect for each other." Ayumi added

"Yep, just perfect." Conan reassured with a sharky smile towards Ai while mouthing 'cradle robber' just for fun. All he got was a flat glare that he just knew he was going to pay for at a later date.

It was worth it!

"Couldn't we do something more play-like?" Naruto asked in a futile attempt to do something, well, more respectable?

Mitsuhiko turned his head, "I refuse to do those fairy-tales." He proclaimed

'_Then what's Kamen Yaiba?' _Both Naruto and Conan thought.

"We're trying to bring out the same emotions people would have if this were real life and since you've been on T.V. you have the most skill out of anyone here." The 'director' said.

"Ah, um, how about a police story instead. I mean, we just get into _so _many situations," he said with a glance at Conan, "that we could pull it off easy."

"Yeah, like when a thief runs into an abandoned building and gets chased down by the cops." Conan suggested

A shouted of wait, echoed through the abandon building.

The sound of running soon followed as the door of the room they were in was slammed open via shoulder ram as a man with black hair, skinny build, a green shirt, brown coat, along with jeans and a pair of shoes stumbled in with a pair of handcuffs on his wrists.

He ran into the run and stopped in the middle of the kids as Sato Miwako herself pointed her gun at him, "Stop!" she ordered, "Put your hands up and don't make a move."

"Officer Sato." Ayumi said as she along with the rest of the kids were surprised to see her.

Sadly, Miwako lowered her guard for a second the criminal grabbed Ayumi and held her threateningly.

"Ayumi!" Conan shouted

"Don't come any closer!" the criminal shouted

"Ayumi/Ayumi-chan!" Genta and Mitsuhiko shouted in concern.

Miwako made a face and lowered her gun.

"Back off." He said as he walked backwards, "Just back off." He said in a desperate tone as he turned around and ran with Ayumi.

"Conan-kun!" the girl shouted.

The gang and Miwako ran after them as they ran up some stairs as Ayumi screamed to be let go.

As they ascended they saw Ayumi on the stairs unharmed.

"Ayumi/Ayumi-chan!" Conan and Naruto shouted at seeing her safe.

"Conan-kun." The girl said, thankful to see him and smiled at Naruto for his concern.

"Where'd he go?" Miwako asked

Ayumi pointed up, "I think he ran up to the roof." She said

Miwako, followed by Naruto and Conan ran up the stairs.

As they made it to the top, Miwako leaned against the wall of the inner part of the roofs exit and held her gun up, ready to use it. While Naruto and Conan stood away from the door, just in case.

They looked out to see the man using a ladder as a make shift bridge to get across to another building's roof.

"Hey! Wait!" Miwako shouted as she ran up to the ladder.

The criminal made it to the other side and tipped the ladder, making it fall to the ground, making him feel secure.

Miwako's as widen then narrowed as she saw the man run into the other building, but she wasn't going to give up yet.

Soon, the other kids followed them up as Miwako looked around and her eyes lit up. She stood on the edge of the roof and ran across it to a gutter drop outlet; she placed her gun between her teeth and jumped for it. She grabbed the top of it and it started to bend from her weight, she then pulled out her gun and shot the two of the staples holding it, letting her safely fall to the other building and she jumped down with her usual cat-like grace.

"W-Whoa!" Genta said in awe as the other kids looked the same.

"Kaa-san is awesome as always." Naruto commented with a smile.

"Sato-san!" shouted the voice of Takagi as he ran onto the roof.

"Well it seems someone finally joined the party." Naruto stated as he looked at the officer.

Sato shot a lock on a door and opened the door.

"Sato-san!" Takagi called out from the roof for his partner.

Miwako looked up, "Takagi-kun, go around the front." She ordered as she ran in.

"Hai!" he shouted as he turned around.

"Hey! What's going on?" Conan asked, causing the officer to turn around to face the kids.

And so, the officer explained.

"What? The criminal you were taking in got away?!" the less mature kids shouted as the ran down the stairs after the officer.

"Yeah." Takagi said, "We were heading back to HQ when a bike and truck collided." He explained, "And while we were focused on that, he ran away. He looked so honest. I never thought he'd run away." He admitted as the exited the building and ran over to the next one.

"That's terrible." Ayumi said

"If he does get away, it's not like you can just fill out a report and say you're sorry." Mitsuhiko stated

"Yes, I know!" Takagi shouted in shame.

"Takagi-baka! A serial killer could look like an honest man! That doesn't mean you should take your eye off him!" Naruto scold and Takagi continued to bow his head to the boy as tears ran down his face. The others just looked on as Naruto scolded the man, frankly it looked ridiculous.

They entered the building and looked around.

"Sato-san, where are you? Sato-san!" Takagi called out.

"Oi! Kaa-san, Takagi is letting me play with his gun! It's Loaded!" Naruto shouted out loud as Takagi covered his mouth quickly and glared at him while Naruto merely eye-smiled at him.

This resulted with everyone, minus Ai, sweat dropping at the blond's antics.

"That's weird." Ai commented, getting everyone's attention, "Isn't this an art gallery?" she questioned

"Yes." Conan answered

"Then why isn't there any art? The room's bare." Ai stated as they all looked around.

"Your right." Naruto said, wondering what was going on.

"Maybe they're just changing the art around." Mitsuhiko suggested

Takagi put his hands on his hips, "Hey! Didn't I tell you guys to go home because it was dangerous?" he asked them.

Naruto just gave the man a blank stare, "I'm fine thanks."

"Takagi-kun!" Miwako's voice called out.

"Sato-san?" Takagi said as he turned his head to the voice.

"Takagi-kun, I'm here!" the Sato female shouted.

"How'd it go, Sato-san!" he said as he ran to the bathroom and he and Naruto entered.

"Sato-san…" the officer said as he looked around.

"Over here." Miwako called out.

"Eh? What in the world are you doing? This is the men's restroom!" he said

"Maybe the guy ran in here Takagi-baka." Naruto quipped as he pushed his leg aside and walked up to his mother…and started to laugh, causing the woman to flush in embarrassment.

Takagi scratched his head and wonder what was so funny, "What happened to the criminal?" he asked as he too looked into the stall.

"Well, I caught him, but…" she trialed off, "There was a little blunder." She laughed sheepishly.

And lo and behold, Miwako was cuffed to the man, but the chain was stuck behind the toilet pipe, preventing both her and the criminal from leaving.

A click of a cellphone camera was heard and the two looked to see Naruto smiling, "So going in the scrapbook." The blond commented on.

"What happened?" Takagi asked, "You know both the criminal's hands were cuffed."

Miwako sweat dropped, "Well, I didn't want him to escape again, so I cuffed him to myself." She stated

"Where's the key?" Takagi asked

"I guess I lost it." Miwako admitted, "If any of the others sees me like this, I'll be really embarrassed. Can you sneak me a spare key?" she asked

"Takagi sweat dropped, "I can't sneak anything. When the criminal escaped, everybody got all anxious about it."

Miwako grabbed his chin to face her, "What?" she asked slyly, "That's some nerve you got for a junior officer. Didn't the criminal escape because you weren't watching him properly?" she asked

Takagi looked down in shame, "Yes ma'am, Naruto-kun already scolded me." he admitted, really, getting scolded by an 8 year old.

The embarrassment!

"We'll I'm sending this to Yumi-nee-san then." Naruto said with a smile as he was about to click the send button, but found his phone in his mother's hand…and it was promptly crushed.

"Ara ara, Naruto-kun, you shouldn't do things like that." She stated as a menacing aura enveloped her as she smiled down a scary smile at him.

Naruto gulped, "I'll, uh, help Takagi get that key. I'm far stealthier then he is anyway." He said and Takagi gawked at him for that remark.

"It wasn't me." the criminal said.

"Huh?" said Takagi as he turned to face the man.

"I'm not the criminal!" the 'criminal' shouted, "I have no idea how or why, but when I woke up this morning Muranishi-san was already dead."

Miwako sighed and gave a tired smile towards Takagi, "He's been saying that for a while now." The female officer stated.

"It's the truth. Please believe me!" the 'criminal' shouted.

Takagi sweat dropped, "Work with me here Higashida-san. The death occurred in her apartment; in the same building where you live. Muranishi Masami-san was your superior at work. She died in the bathroom, which is adjacent to her room. When her body was discovered, you were found drunk and asleep on her bed." The officer exclaimed in disbelief, "The main door was chained locked, leaving the room secured. The main bits of evidence are the fact that the door was chained from the inside, and a video cable was found near the victim's body, with your fingerprints on it. At work, people often was you two arguing with each other. On the day of the murder, you were seen in a bar drinking and having a pretty loud disagreement with her. That's why we concluded that you got into her bedroom drunk and used the video cable to kill her." He concluded as Miwako took over.

"You probably locked the door so that she couldn't get away. After you murdered her, you fell asleep on her bed."

"But I don't have any memory of that." The 'criminal' stated.

"Dude, it's called a hangover." Naruto stated as he listened to the story and silently whistled, either this guy was a piss poor murder or a guy who was shit out of luck.

Either way, it wasn't pretty for this guy.

Miwako sweatdropped at the blunt way of putting it, but it was the truth.

"It's true that I didn't really like her because she kept complaining about my work. But I didn't hate her enough to kill her!" he exclaimed loudly.

Miwako leaned down to his face and looked him straight in the eye, "So why did you run away?" Miwako asked

The 'criminal' lowered his head, "Because I have somewhere I need to be." He muttered

"And where would that be?" lady Sato asked with a tilt of her head.

The 'criminal' sighed, "I received a letter from my daughter…I haven't seen my daughter since my ex-wife and I first got divorced…but she sent me an invitation to her wedding." He spoke with tears, "I thought that she hated me for seventeen years…how can I not go to her wedding?" he asked as he choked a sob.

That got both officers and Naruto to look at each other in thought.

"It's true. You can go to my room and check. You'll find my daughter's letter there." The maybe killer said, "And an airplane ticket too." He added quickly.

"But, still…" Takagi tried to think of something.

"This man's not a bad guy!" Ayumi shouted

"Oh?" Takagi said turning around to face the other kids as they entered.

Ayumi clinched her tiny fists, "I know because he let me go. He even said he was sorry!" the small girl exclaimed, "If he were really a bad guy then he wouldn't have done that." She reasoned.

Takagi leaned down, "But, Ayumi…" he said as he tried to make the child understand.

Miwako thought for a moment and turned to the man attached to her hand, "Say, what time is the flight tomorrow?" she asked him.

"It leaves from Narita Airport at 12:30." The man answered.

Takagi turned around to face his senior, "Sato-san?" he asked, was she believing him. Of course he was feeling a bit wavering about this too, but the evidence was still stacked against this guy.

Miwako turned serious, "Takagi-kun, can you do everything I tell you to?" she asked

After a brief explanation.

"What?! Find the real criminal before noon tomorrow?" Takagi shouted in shock and pointed to himself, "You mean me?" he asked

Miwako nodded, "Yeah, that's right. I'll look after him until then." She said as she held up her cuffed hand, "It's not like I can move around like this."

"Then…I'll go get the key…" Takagi trailed off, "We can take him to the police station, and then we can both…"

"No." Miwako said sternly, "If you get caught trying to bring the key…first the captain will chew you up, then make you do a bunch of paperwork…" she said as she got into his face, "By the time you finish, the flight will have left." She proclaimed, "Listen. We're looking for the real suspect." She said as she poked him in the chest, "Just keep that in mind and find the real criminal. There's no other way. Before this man is prosecuted, we're using our own judgment to check out his alibi, and there's nothing wrong with that."

"But…" Takagi trailed off.

"The time limit is…before the museum opens tomorrow morning at ten. If a customer comes into this restroom, he'll probably call the police immediately." She said as she looked down at the cuffed man, "So until then, I'm trusting you. How's that sound to you?" she asked

The man smiled brightly as he cried, "Thank you very much."

"But, doing this all alone is…" Takagi tried to reason.

"I find that very insulting just now." Naruto quipped and Miwako threw him a smile.

"You're not alone." Miwako supported, "You have Naruto-kun who has done this before along with a bunch of workers eager to assist." She said while looking at the rest of the Detective Boys.

The DB smiled at Takagi, who's eye twitched a bit.

They exited the building, Takagi thought back at Sato's last words to him.

"_Alight, so until ten tomorrow morning. You have to find the real suspect before then to prove this man's innocence. Don't worry, you can do it." Miwako stated with a smile, "Believe in yourself."_

He gained a bit of a blush on his face and started to chuckle a little.

The DB noticed and Genta spoke, "Hey, what are you laughing at? We've gotta go!" he shouted

Takagi was about to get into a thinking position, until a kick to the rear sent him down the 7 steps, roughly on his face.

Naruto was standing behind him with his foot extended, "Ooops." He said in a way that sounded like he wasn't very sorry, "My foot slipped." He commented as he walked down the stairs as Takagi got up and brushed himself off.

Conan snickered slightly to himself, _'Overprotective son huh?' _he questioned for a good laugh, it was really funny how this was going to play out if the two continued like this.

Takagi sighed as he had just realized what Sato was talking about, since Inspector Megure was her superior, she told him all that in confidence.

Mitsuhiko looked at him and spoke Ayumi, "First he's all excited, and now he's all depressed."

"He's weird." Ayumi added

Just then, a man in a construction uniform ran up the stairs, "Hey! What are you doing?" he asked the group, "There stairs are labeled 'No entry', aren't they!"

Takagi rubbed the back of his neck and looked apologetic, "There was an emergency…" he tried to explain.

"Yes, we were all chasing a suspect." Mitsuhiko interfered

"What suspect?" the man asked mockingly, "You're not cops." He stated as he looked at them.

Naruto snorted, "He may not look like one, but he actually is." The blond said pointing at Takagi, who nodded and when to pull out his badge, but remembered Sato's words.

"_Of course, if the police find the two of us like this, then the mission is over. In order for this man to make it to his daughter's wedding in time, you'll have to investigate alone."_

Takagi was about to make something off on the spot, but Naruto spoke up.

"There was a police call that there may have been a few squatters around this area along with some drug dealings, so one of your bosses called Officer Takagi here." Naruto said pointing at the man, who had a shocked face, again, "So he was doing a sweep of the place." The blond answered

The man blinked, "Ah, okay, but what's with all the kids?" he asked

"Well…" the blond trialed off and the man got a closer look at him.

"Hey! You're that Meitantei-Ouji!" the man exclaimed in surprise.

Naruto nodded, "Yep, just doing my part to help out." he said, "Well, we'll be out of your hair now, come on Takagi." He said as he walked away and the officer and kids followed.

"Nice one Naruto-kun." Takagi commented with a thumbs up.

Naruto just shrugged, "Rule seven, Always be specific when you lie." The blond stated.

"It was well thought whiskers." Ai commented with a sly look.

Naruto just laughed in light embarrassment.

**0 Back with Miwako and the other guy 0**

"Is this really okay?" the man asked her and Miwako turned to look at him.

"That cop doesn't seem too reliable…"

Miwako just gave a cheery smile, "Yeah, you're right. He's sweet, but he sometimes ends up messing up. He's the type you just can't leave alone. But Takagi-kun works hard to get the job done." Miwako said as she clinched her fist.

"No way."

Miwako closed her eyes, "Besides, the kids are with him." she stated

"The kids?"

Miwako opened her eyes, "That boy in the glasses and my son with the blond hair. That one just gives people confidence while the other just works hard to figure things out and does the best he can, and usual ends up doing something amazing, he is the Detective Prince after all." She said with a proud motherly smile.

**0 Back with the main characters 0**

A police car zoomed by.

"That's the fifth one." Ai commented

"What's going on?" Genta asked

"I told you." Takagi started as he was wearing a rounded hat and sunglasses, "They're looking for the suspect, Officer Sato, and myself." He explained

"You know." Naruto pointed out, "They could also be looking for me." he said out loud as he got into a thinking position, "I could run some interference." He offered ever so innocently.

Takagi's eyes bulged behind his glasses and he grabbed Naruto by his shoulders as he got to his knees, "No Naruto-kun, no Loki, please no Loki." The man pleaded.

The entire DB looked at the two, "Loki?" the kids asked.

"The Norse God of mischief." Ai filled in to help those who didn't know it.

"Ah." The three kids said in stereo, understanding better.

"Then why is he calling Naruto-kun that?" Mitsuhiko asked.

"Because Naruto-kun does a lot of pranks to the officers in HQ who try and pursue Sato-san romantically. He's so good at it that Shiratori-san dubbed him Loki of Tokyo." Takagi answered

"I haven't the faintest clue to what you're talking about Takagi." Naruto said with an ever so innocent yet vicious smile.

The man shuttered at that evil smile.

The kids just looked at Naruto weirdly, but shrugged, it was good to know that Naruto was good at pranks; they could use that some time.

"Officer Takagi, you look like a gangster." Ayumi pointed out.

Takagi looked embarrassed and played with the brim of his hat, "I've got no choice. This is an undercover investigation." He stated

"Anyway, that shop is first on our list." Conan said, trying to get the investigation rolling, "Before Higashida-san went to the apartment where the crime was committed…"

"He got shot drunk in that bar." Naruto supplied as Conan gave him a look so the very blunt answer.

And so, they entered and went to the owner.

The woman in a kimono nodded, "Yes I remember him. Got stinking drunk that one did. He said he'd 'set her straight'." She said as she held her cheek, "But I just can't believe that Higashida-san would turn to violence." She said in a sad tone.

"Nee, did he go back alone?" Conan asked

The woman looked at him, "He had a drinking buddy named Kitagawa-san with him…they both left together. Look." She said looking at a table, "That man over there." She said and they turned to see a man with a blue long sleeve shirt, white pants, and bowl cut with a mustache and was smoking a cigarette.

"So this is him." Takagi said, "Kitagawa-san was the first to discover the body." He said as he looked over his notes.

"The first one?" Conan asked

Takagi nodded as he leaned forward, "Right. The day after the crime, Higashida-san and Muranishi-san didn't come to work. So he asked the building manager to open the door, and that's when he discovered the dead body."

The man suddenly stood up and left the bill and tip on the table as he walked past the group, "Money's on the table." He said as he headed out the door.

"Thank you for coming." The owner said.

"Oh, Kitagawa-san!" Takagi called out, but the man didn't stop and Takagi went after him, "I'm with the police. I have a few questions to ask you."

The man turned around, "I've told the police all I know." He commented, "My friend killed my boss…It's all been a terrible shock. Please leave me in peace." He asked and turned to leave.

"Oh…yes." Takagi said in understanding.

"That's right. He already gave his statement at headquarters." He said to himself, "And the manager here has been questioned loads of times." He said as he entered the bar again and saw the kids being told by the owner that the victim was a fan of the Tokyo Spirits team and the suspected was an Anti-Spirits fan.

Takagi walked over to the kids to stop them, "Oi? What are you kids asking her?" He said to get them to stop.

"Ah! I have to call my mom." Mitsuhiko said.

"Me too." Genta said

"Same here!" Ayumi said with her hand raised.

"I'd call Kaa-san, but she destroyed my phone." Naruto said with a pout.

Ai looked at him, "But she already knows where you are." she pointed out.

Naruto shrugged, "I know that, but it would be kinda fun to do it anyway." He admitted

Takagi palmed his face, _'Aw, man. There's no way we'll find the criminal before tomorrow afternoon.'_ He thought to himself.

After a brief call to Professor Agasa by Conan, the old man promised to cover for the DB, again.

Truly a wonderful man.

"Did Agasa-san say it's all right?" Takagi asked Conan.

"Yeah. He was going on about some fireworks show tomorrow in Haido city." The boy replied

Takagi held his chin, "Fireworks…is there really an event like that?" he asked himself.

Conan put his hands in his pockets, "Anyway, next stop is the crime scene, Muranishi-san's room." He said, getting Takagi out of his thoughts.

"Ah…yeah." The man said.

After a quick trip to the apartment complex and talking to the manager, they headed to the room.

"The police again?" the manager questioned, "The police that came this afternoon just left not too long ago." The man commented as they group stopped by the door of the victim.

Takagi rubbed the back of his head, "There was something else we needed to take a look at." The officer supplied.

"And who are these kids?" the manager asked as he looked at the children after unlocking the door.

"Eh…" Takagi tried to come up with something.

"Occupational studies." Mitsuhiko said

Ayumi held out her arms in excitement, "We have to watch a policeman in action, and then make a report about it at school."

The manager gave them a warm smile, "Ohh. The average 'working man'?" he said in understanding.

Takagi opened the door and gave a light bow as the kids ran inside, "I'll return the key after we've finished." He stated

The manager took off and waved his hand to the officer, "Right, thanks." He said as he left them alone to work.

Takagi entered after entering, he closed the door and leaned against while letting out a sigh of relief, but not too soon as he let out a startled gasp at the kids almost touching something, "Hey! If you guys touched anything…" he trailed off, but paused as the kids raised their hands, showing they were wearing gloves.

"Don't worry. Look!" Genta said.

"When you bought your hat, we bought these gloves." Mitsuhiko explained.

"Conan-kun told us to." Ayumi added.

"Well I always keep a pair of gloves on me. Rule #2, Always wear gloves at a crime scene." Naruto commented, "Thank you Gibbs."

Takagi blinked, "Really…"

After a brief look around, Takagi felt they wouldn't find anything.

"Come on you guys. No matter how hard we look, nothing turns up." The officer commented, "The investigators that came earlier went over this place with a fine-toothed comb." He stated

"Doesn't mean they couldn't have missed something." Naruto spoke, "Oi, Conan." He said, getting the glasses wearing boy to turn to him, "You see what I see?" he asked while pointing to the faded mark on the wall.

Conan gave a smirk, "Yep, do you notice the others?" he asked in interest.

Naruto blinked for a second and looked around, "Well one is the bed, pillow, and curtains. They're all grey while almost everything else is beige." The blond stated.

Conan nodded, "Yep, that's one of the weird points." _'Heh, this is kinda fun.' _He thought; let's see what this kid's got.

"Come on, that's just a coincidence." Takagi answered.

"But the beige curtains and bedsheet are in the wardrobe here." Mitsuhiko stated as he pointed to the closet.

"And the hostess of the bar said that Munanishi-san loved the color of beige." Ayumi said, getting Takagi's attention.

"And that she liked the Tokyo Spirits team." Genta added further.

"She also said that Higashida-san knows a lot about electronics, but hates to take baths." Mitsuhiko continued

"She said that he gets really sleepy after drinking." Ayumi said, "And she said that he's always late for work because of it."

Takagi pulled out his notepad and looked through it, "Those things weren't recorded." He commented with a frown.

"When she talked to the police earlier. People think that if they say something irrelevant when giving their statement, they might get told off. So usually they only say the critical points." Conan said with a shrug and turned to look at Takagi, "Hearing all that, I can't help but think the bartender was nosy."

Takagi blinked, "Nosy?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

Conan held up a calendar, "Naruto already pointed this one out; the second thing is why the calendar next to the bed was put away." He said as he walked over to the outlined spot where the calendar match perfectly, "Look. This was taken from the closet. The Tokyo Spirits calendar matches the faded mark on the wall."

Takagi sweatdropped, "That's probably because the team hasn't been doing so well recently, so she took it down."

Naruto made a buzz sound, "Wrong, she sounded like a fanatic about that team, even if they were losing, she wouldn't just put it away." He said and Conan nodded to him.

"Yep, look at this." The glasses boy said as he lifted the next page of the calendar, "The game schedule is marked down from now until December."

Takagi took the calendar and looked at him, "You're right."

"Also, the furniture was moved around recently." Naruto pointed out.

Takagi brightened up at that, "The investigators noticed that too. They said she must have moved stuff around recently."

"But when the wardrobe was moved, this was left under it." Conan said as he held up something, "It looks too important to forget about. Don't you think that's strange?" he asked

Takagi knelt down and looked at it, "Isn't this just an ordinary matchbox?" he asked as he looked it over.

"Take a look inside of it and see. The investigation team missed something big." Naruto commented and Takagi did so.

His eyes widened, "There's a piece of paper inside." He said as he took it out and opened it and gasped, "This is…Muranishi-san's marriage application!" he shouted in shock, "I didn't know that she was planning on getting married." He stated as he read it further and frowned, "But the groom's information is blank. Yet it's been notarized already."

"Fourth thing, the cacti." Ai said with her hands in her pockets as she looked at the veranda, "Since morning it was raining on the day of the crime. Would a woman, who loved her cacti, just leave them on the veranda on a day like that?" she asked as Takagi walked over to look.

"That means someone other than her…rearranged the room for some reason." Naruto stated

"Oh, this must be the one." Mitsuhiko said loudly, getting everyone's attention as he, Ayumi, and Genta looked at one of the cacti, "This must be the cactus that the hostess gave Muranishi-san the evening of the murder."

"But some of the needles got broken. How sad." Ayumi said with a frown.

"But what does that prove?" Takagi asked tiredly, not understanding where they were even going with this.

"That night, the suspect, Higashida-san, mistook this as his bedroom. And he went to sleep on the bed. Not only the video cord, but the door lock and the chain were covered with Higashida-san's…finger…prints…" he trailed off as he was getting it now, "Don't tell me…" he said turning around, "Don't tell me this room was…"

"Well, shall we have a look?" Conan asked, getting Takagi's attention, "His apartment is in this building, right?" he asked

Takagi nodded, "Let's check it out." he said

**0 The next morning 0**

The manager was walking up the stairs to another floor when he saw 4 kids seemingly lying asleep against the wall.

"Hey if you asleep like that you'll catch a cold." the manager said as he approached the door where the case happened only for it to open and reveal Takagi.

"Oh Manager-san!"

"You're still in there, have you been investigating all night?" the manager asked.

"Yeah I did, thanks for your help by the way because now we learned everything." Takagi said with a more serious face.

"No problem I'm just glad you got any useful information."

_'But now, let's see how I can find the offender.' _Conan thought to himself.

**0 Later 0**

Takagi and the kids were now hiding in an alley from the passing cops.

"Hey everyone if you want to get some sleep then you can go home now." Takagi said seeing their tired faces.

"I don't want to." Mitsuhiko said defiantly.

"Mou, you only care for yourself." Ayumi said softly.

"Jeez you people." Takagi said with a tired sigh.

"Love ya too Takagi." Naruto said with a roll of his eyes.

"Please allow us to undertake the investigation." Mitsuhiko pleaded.

"I guess you want to take this all on your own just because you want to prove your skills." Genta said almost lazily.

Naruto let out a little snicker at this.

"This is my job as a police officer." Takagi said back.

Haibara took out a watch to check the time, "There's not much time left." she commented

Hearing that Takagi gaped in slight panic as he checked his own watched to see she was right.

"Let's go to the home of the criminal" Conan said in anticipation as he walked off.

**0 Back at the Museum 0**

MIwako was checking her own watch to see that they only had five minutes left before time ran out. Hearing that her chained partner began to cry believing he was going to miss seeing his daughter's wedding.

"Hey don't cry, although you cannot participate in your daughter's wedding I'm sure we can catch the true culprit to prove your innocent." Miwako said gently, "Although it's strange, the cleaners should be working now?"

"I don't think they are off today." Higashida said as he wiped some tears off.

"They can't be its Sunday today, also can you hear that? The noise coming from the guests outside" Sato asked with confusion. "They must be queuing and waiting for this art museum to open."

However unknown to Miwako and her cuffed friend Higashida, was that the people outside weren't gathered to enter the museum but to see it get blown up and demolished. There was a poster with a timer that said only 34 minutes and 2 seconds until demolition time.

The people outside had no idea there were still people inside the museum.

**0 With everyone else 0**

The kids and Takagi had just arrived at their targets home and knocked on the door which he just answered.

"I see it's the officer from last night." Kitagawa stated boringly.

"I am sorry about last night." Takagi apologized.

"I have nothing more to tell the police." Kitagawa said tiredly.

"Yes but I would like to ask you about the circumstances when you discovered the body." Takagi asked nicely.

"I told you already Higashida-san and Muranishi-san did not go to work and no one answered the phone. Therefore I went to their home and took a look. I rang the bell but no one answered, so I asked the manager to get in Muranishi-san's room with me but the door was locked up and Higashida-san was lying on her bed. We yelled for him which woke him up and asked him to unlock the chain. Then we entered with the manager and found Muranishi-san was dead in the bathroom. So from top to bottom I've told you everything." Kitagawa-san said impatiently as he began sliding his door to close.

"Wait Kitagawa-san!" Takagi said hastily as he tried to keep the door open while Kitagawa tried to close it.

"I already told you so please leave here." Kitagawa-san said with annoyance.

"Can I ask you some more questions?" Takagi asked which made Kitagawa-san stop trying to close the door.

"What? Don't tell me I'm under suspicion?" he asked

"No, I didn't mean it." Takagi said.

"I SUSPECT YOU!" Genma shouted, "You are the culprit."

"Don't try to lie." Mitsuhiko said

"It's so obvious that you broke the law." Ayumi commented

"Hey!" Takagi whispered, "You can't do this, we should follow the routine."

"Who are these brats?" Kitagawa shouted in annoyance at having these brats just suddenly accuse him out of nowhere.

"We're the Detective Boys!" Ayumi, Genta and Mitsuhiko said at the same time.

"There is nothing we cannot solve!" Genta said pointing at everyone under the age of ten.

Takagi laughed emptily, "Oh this is…" he said but didn't know how to finish his sentence.

Kitagawa-san sighed before he looked more relaxed, "Well I don't know what that's about but how can I be the offender?"

Then, why did you swap the color of the bed sheet and the curtain?" Conan with his usual detective face.

"Huh?" Kitagawa-san said dumbly.

"It must be you who took away the red bed sheet and curtains at Muranishi-san's home." Naruto commented

Hearing that Kitagawa-san got a bit angry as he grabbed Takagi by the collar and pulled him closer, "Hey stop it, if you don't get these kids out of here, I'll tell the police to charge you."

Takagi squirmed a bit in his grip before speaking, "I just asked the departmental store nearby."

Caught by surprise Kitagawa-san let go of Takagi. "What?"

"You bought some blue bed sheets, pillow cases, blankets and curtains and this was witnessed by the sells person." Takagi said grabbing his hand.

"That's because mine were getting old so I bought new ones to replace them but then I changed my mind so I threw them away." Kitagawa-san said a bit nervously.

"What about the calendar you took down and the cactus you moved to the balcony, did you do all of those?" Takagi said seriously leaving their suspect unable to respond.

"I shouldn't blame you. As Higashida-san loves the Anti-Spirits so much if his room has a Tokyo team calendar and cactus even though he was drunk he would still discover it. So that means everything is in Muranishi-san's bedroom which would catch people's attention cause they were all removed by you. The color of the curtain and the bed and the placement of furniture are also the same as Muranishi-san's bedroom. After you murdered her you led Higashida-san who was drunk into the room and onto Muranishi-san's bedroom. You created an impression that he was in his own bedroom." Takagi said as Kitagawa was now gaping.

"Then you went to the door and told Higashida to lock the chain. He only had to make sure there is a lock there, and then he walked back to the bed and slept. The next day he was with Muranishi-san's body and was found inside her home. It was a total closed interior setting and it was like that." Takagi finally finished but Kitagawa-san started talking back.

"The cable…the one around Muranishi-san's neck. The cable, there were Higashida-san's fingerprints on it." He said weakly.

"Hey Ai-chan, how're things going inside?" Naruto shouted out, making Kitagawa-san turn around to see that a little girl had somehow snuck inside without him knowing.

"It's just like what you two expected. There is one cable missing from his bedroom." She said coolly making Kitagawa look nervous again.

"She had asked him, a person who is good at AV machines, to help out. Then you used the cable as a weapon to murder her and on the day of the crime you were off from work because on that afternoon, you got into Muranishi-san's home from the emergency stairs, used the spare key she gave you to get inside and moved the furniture and the decorations." Takagi said a bit more loudly.

"What? That's ridiculous!" Kitagawa said with new calm all of a sudden, "Show me some concrete evidence?"

Takagi looked unnerved since he didn't have concrete evidence but Conan noticed what they needed.

"Hey what's wrong sir? Your thumbs hurt." Conan said softly.

"Yeah, looks like it hurts." Naruto commented with a wide grin.

**0 Back at the Museum 0**

A band was playing trumpets for the soon to be demolished Museum as people cheered along to the music and the clock said there was only 11 minutes and 5 seconds left. Inside the condemned Museum Miwako was hearing the music.

"What's wrong with the music?" She asked no one in particular, "Well listening to the music during the wait is not bad." she said while waving her finger to the sound.

Back outside the band finished playing and then one of the men dressed up in a suit stepped forward at the mike.

"To all our guests here today, the time left for us to say goodbye to Poore Museum in only 10 minutes." He said earning a cheer from the crowed but inside the Museum Sato heard the man's words.

"What…say goodbye?" She said in confusion.

"Now please welcome our guest, the genius lab scientist, Professor Agasa to deliver a speech." The spokesman said before moving aside to let Agasa speak as the crowed clapped lowly.

"As he has said I am Professor Agasa. The bright full rainbow explosive I have created is the bomb that will be used to say farewell to this old art museum."

Inside the museum Miwako and Higashida blinked nervously. "What… what did he just say?" Miwako asked him hoping she was hearing wrong.

"I think he said…a bomb." Higashida answered nervously.

"Wait…THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!" Miwako shouted, panicking now knowing what was happening outside.

0 Back to the gang 0

"The band-aid on your thumb." Conan said again.

"So what about it?" Kitagawa asked angrily as he tried steering away from this new topic.

Instead of answering Takagi grabbed his hand and took of the band aid to reveal that his thumb had what looked like puncture wounds on his thumb.

"How did you get this injury?" Takagi questioned now.

"This is…" Kitagawa-san began but couldn't seem to find the right words to say next.

"After your wound's examined by the police with the cactus then the truth will be revealed. Then, after you killed Muranishi-san you were the one who shifted the cactus to the balcony but got poked by its needles. Now it's time for you to reveal the truth. That night, the boss's wife gave that cactus to Muranishi-san as you swore you did not see her, how can the cactus carry your blood?" Takagi said as Kitagawa-san lowered his head in anger.

0 Back at the museum 0

"Now only 3 minutes left until the explosion. The one who will push the button will be Doctor Agasa." The spokesman said eagerly as the crowd cheered at the time reaming.

Inside the museum Miwako was trying to call for help on her phone.

"Hello hello?" She asked frantically before checking her phone, "It can't be. The battery's dead!"

"What about the gun if you fire it someone may notice?" Higashida asked

Hearing that Sato face palmed, "2 shots on the staples, 1 on the lock and 2 on the door I fired all my shots!" She said.

"Why didn't you save one shot?" he asked frantically.

"BECAUSE YOU WERE RUNNIN AROUND!" Sato said in anger, "Dammit where the hell is Takagi?"

0 With the gang once again 0

"Huh that's strange, the phones not responding." Takagi said after trying to call Miwako to tell her they got the culprit.

"It's after ten A.M. now." Genta said.

"Maybe she lost reception in the Museum?" Mitsuhiko mentioned the possibility.

"Then we should go there as soon as possible now." Takagi said as they all headed to the car with their culprit in tow but before they even left the house a police car passed around and stopped right in front of them and the door opened to reveal Megure.

"Takagi what the hell are you doing here?" he said not sounding pleased.

Seeing his boss Takagi lost his composure, "Ah Inspector Megure sir, I found a new culprit." he said.

"Don't talk about that now you…wait did you say new culprit?" Megure asked dumbfound.

"Yes, Kitagawa-san couldn't stand Muranishi-san who urged him to marry her, so he killed her. He also set up a trap to make us believe his colleague was the one who did it." Takagi said rushed.

Megure raised his hands telling him to stop, "Okay I get it, so let's get him to the station and clear the other man from the charges".

Hearing that Takagi nodded but before he got in the car Shiratori spoke up. "Where's Sato-san and the former suspect?" he asked seeing that she wasn't with him which was weird if they were looking for the real culprit.

"She's with him right now in the Poore Art Gallery Museum." Takagi answered which to his confusion earned a laugh from Shiratori.

"Don't joke around, that place is…"

**0 At the Museum…again 0**

"Ladies and Gentleman the explosion will start soon. So let's all count down as we reach zero!" Agasa said earning a loud cheer from the crowd. However one of the people in the crowd wasn't cheering as he was talking on the phone and receiving bad news.

"What, some people are still inside the Museum!?" A man who was part of the staff said in worry, "How can that b…ahh!" he was unable to finish as the crowd suddenly pushed forward making him drop his cellphone and loosing it in the crowed as he was pushed further even more and unable to go back.

**0 With Megure 0**

"Hey can you hear me, hello hello? What's wrong, tell me!? Shit we have no choice, drive faster or we'll be too late!" Megure shouted as Shiratori accelerated more were also in a strange sight there was also an entire squad of police cars behind them which included armored vans, motorcycles and even one riding some bicycles that somehow managed to keep up with the vehicles.

"Come on! Come on!" Naruto shouted at the man.

**0 With Agasa 0**

"Now let's begin the final countdown everyone!" Agasa said eagerly like the rest of the crowd. "Ten!"

"9!" The crowd cheered.

"8!" Sato and the man heard to their growing fear.

"7!" Conan heard as they got closer and he opened the door while the car was still speeding.

"6!" Megure heard as he told Shiratori to drive even faster.

"5!" Naruto heard as he was getting onto the roof of the car.

"4!" The crowd cheered.

"3!" Miwako and the man heard as they closed their eyes for the inevitable.

"2!" Everyone heard while Naruto quickly his kunai.

"1!" Agasa said loudly as he raised his hand to push the button but as he brought it down, but it was suddenly struck by a kunai and luckily it didn't cut his hand. Thus destroying the detonator.

"Ahh Agasa-san!" A member of the sponsor for the event said worriedly wondering what the hell just happened as they went to check the man's hand for harm.

Naruto however sighed in relief seeing that his shot made it in just a spit second before it was too late.

'_So damn luck, so damn luck I practice my aim.' _He thought as he slipped into the car, just as it came to a screeching halt.

Later on, everyone went to get Miwako free, but just as they were about to cut the cuffs, Naruto intervened.

"I got it." Naruto said as he walked up to his mother's cuff and pulled out a lock pick set and in 6 seconds flat, he got her and the newly cleared man free.

Everyone just looked at him with wide eyes.

"What?"

Miwako took a calming breath, "Naruto-kun, could you have done this the entire time?" she asked sweetly.

Naruto gave a cheeky nod, "Yep."

"Then why didn't you do it earlier?" his mother asked with controlled rage.

Naruto pointed to his broken phone on the ground, "You broke my phone, so I felt this was proper punishment." Was all he said.

"…Grounded. One week." Miwako stated with motherly authority.

"Totally worth it."

Miwako stated to look fidgety, "Where's Takagi-kun?" she suddenly asked.

"He's back there." an officer said pointing back.

"Thank you!" She said before running out the room.

"Sato-san!" She heard before she turned to see Takagi said as he ran towards her.

"Takagi-kun!" She said as she ran towards him too.

"Sato-san!" Takagi said again with a happy face at seeing she was fine.

"Takagi-kun!" Sato said again while almost seeming to be holding back tears.

"Ah Sato-san I made it!" Takagi said as he got closer and they both seemed to leap into what would've been a hug before Takagi was grabbed by the collar and shaken violently by Miwako.

"Toilet, Where's another toilet. There's no water supply in that restroom and there's no way I'm using it with all those guys in there so tell me where there's another bathroom now!" Miwako demanded frantically and angrily as she had to go real bad and the tears she was holding back were now forming in her eyes due to her internal struggle.

"Turn…um…there should be one at the corner." Takagi said weakly.

Wasting no time she let him go and ran where he said like she didn't have time to waste as Takagi looked on and meekly reached out to her. "Sato-san…" he said a bit disappointed he didn't get to say more to her.

"Officer Takagi." An officer said with an angry face.

"Y…Yeah?" Takagi asked weakly.

"Why was Sato-san crying?" the same officer asked with a narrowed glare.

Takagi cringed at that and turned to face him only to dumbly say "Huh?"

"Takagi!" He heard and slowly turned to see a buff looking officer with a mustache also glaring angrily at him. "What did you do to Sato-san!" he said with clear anger on his face.

"Um…I… she…" Takagi said while being unable to form a proper sentence but the cringed in fear at seeing all the other officers in front of him also having angry faces that were clearly directed at him. He turned around to the other path to see more officers with angry faces that now had him completely surrounded with no hope of escaping from their wrath.

"Get'em boys!" Naruto encouraged with strange glee and the men nodded.

"SATO-SAN!" Takagi cried out hoping she'd return to save him, but sadly that wasn't going to happen.

**0 Later at the airport 0**

It was close but Higashida managed to make it in time to board his airplane after being cleared of the charges. Seeing his plane taking off were Miwako, Naruto, and Takagi.

"It's wonderful that Higashida-san managed make it in time to see his daughter's wedding." Sato said happily for the man on the plane.

"Well, happy endings are always needed for a good story, right?" the blond asked.

"Yeah." Takagi simply agreed.

"But I was blamed by Inspector Megure." Miwako said as she blushed a bit in embarrassment before doing her Megure impersonation, "Can't we be trusted!" she said in a voice more like Megure's tone.

Naruto snickered and Takagi laughed a bit before his face took a sadder one and he turned to look down at the floor out the window, "Umm can I ask you a question?" he asked meekly.

"Hmm?" Miwako hummed

"Do you…happen to like… Inspector Megure?" he asked weakly.

"Huh, how do you know? Well I really do like him." Miwako said happily.

Takagi sighed sadly at hearing that, "Is that so?"

"Yeah because he's just like my father." Miwako said with a blissful face as if she was having a flashback.

"Huh your father?" Takagi said confusedly.

Sato nodded, "Yeah my father. My father was also a police officer, though he died on duty while I was still at primary school, I've never been able to forget him. He very much resembles Inspector Megure." She said softly.

"That's cool." Naruto surmised, huh, maybe he should ask about his adopted grandfather later.

"Eh is that so?" Takagi also said softly as he now had a smile again.

"Huh?" Miwako said noticing the look on his face before she got closer and now had an annoyed face, "What is it now. It seems like you have something to say?" she said with an annoyed tone in her voice.

"Ah no no." Takagi said while waving his hands in mock surrender, "I'll just be letting fathe-I mean the Inspector give me a scolding too." he said quickly before he ran off happily knowing Miwako wasn't in love with anyone.

Just to get tripped my Naruto.

"Opps."

**0**

**Done and Done!**

**Finally!**

…**Yeah…this was not my best work and I will admit it. It was mainly a Takagi case, but I just couldn't find the groove to get it better. Sigh, you can hate me for it, but I just couldn't get that normal feeling I get for a chapter for this fic, so, I apologize.**

**Well anyway! Good news is the next chapter will be Movie 3! The Last Wizard of the Century! That one has me pumped, but it will be a bit until it gets out. Next I will be dong my Kingdom Hearts fic (been so long since I did it lol) LIOH, followed by ROTK and ACUB to finish both arcs each story is currently in, so yeah!**

**R&R, no flames, peace off!**


	7. Captured in Her Eyes

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Detective Conan, please support the official release.**

**Challenge by Agurra of the Darkness**

**Co-written by: Masamune X23**

**AN: Important! Okay, if you look up at the summary, you will notice a complete up there. And this is true. I am done with this fic sadly; I no longer have the spark to continue it. I will of course take down my never abandon fic policy since I feel I have failed you all, but I just can't do this. My other fics sure, but I am only a mediocre fan of Conan not a major one, plus this series is so looong, I could never finish it. This will be up for adoption thought! Whoever adopts it, I am willing to work with them on it no problems, in a way to show that I did not abandon it, but that is just some BS excuse for me to not give up my policy.**

**This chapter is Movie 4, Captured in Her Eyes. Darkness wanted this from me the most, so I worked, procrastinated the hell out of it, and worked, and worked! And you want to know something, I feel terrible about this chapter, this is official my worst chapter in my opinion in any fic I have put out. This is how much I feel I have failed with this chapter and this fic in general.**

**On the plus side…I got my semester grades XD 3 A's (One was a minus), B, and a D+…I am never taking accounting again, dropped my GPA for the semester to a 3.2. Sadly I loved the teacher though so I cannot childishly hate her in my bout of anger. Curse you likable professors, curse you!**

**Anyway, hope you like the last chapter…yeah…**

**0**

Naruto sighed as he walked through the rain with a black umbrella with his friends. Conan and Ai were AWOL, so it was his turn to keep the other three of the Detective Boys out of trouble it seemed.

He shifted a bit as his bright blue eyes grew a bit duller, it was raining _that _day too. He shook his head, blond spikes shaking off some drops of water, don't think about it he thought to himself, he was here, happy, safer, living the way he should have from the start.

He normally didn't think about _that_ place anymore, but whenever it rained, it just seemed to crawl back slowly from the back of his mind.

"Naruto-kun, ne, Naruto!" Ayumi shouted with puffed cheeks.

"Huh?" was the intelligent response.

"Mou, we made a quiz for Conan-kun to solve, were you even listening?"

The blond gave her a slight smile, "Sorry, distracted by the rain." He answered truthfully.

"Well, let's hurry to his place and tell him." Mitsuhiko said, thinking about stumping the glasses boy.

"What are you guys talking about?" Conan said as he walked up to them with a dull face.

"Conan!" Ayumi cheered with a bright smile.

"There you are! We were just heading for your house." The lanky boy said.

Naruto took a quick look around, eyes narrowed, "Okay, we're clear. No Conan Effect in sight." He announced and side stepped the punch a red faced Conan sent his way.

_'Damn this kid and his theory!'_ the shrunken detective raged, it was like some never ending gag reel with the whiskered boy.

Genta walked up to the group, "There's a quiz we have to test you with." He exclaimed while throwing his arms in the air, before quickly covering himself with his umbrella.

"That's right." Ayumi said with a nod, "We asked Haibara-san what kind of person she thought you were…She said 'He's someone who looks at the moon when it's not summer.'"

Mitsuhiko held up one finger and asked, "Now, did Haibara-san one-compliment you" he held up two fingers now, "…or two-insult you? Well, which one is it?"

Naruto thought it over since he hadn't heard and snorted, a look of mirth filled his blue orbs as he glanced at Conan with a knowing grin and the boy rolled his eyes at the blond.

Conan looked up in thought, "Not in the summer…" he focused on, "Then…I got it." The detective confirmed with a solid nod, "It's answer two!"

"Eh?" said the other three in confusion as Naruto nodded.

"Why do you say that?" Mitsuhiko asked in surprise.

Conan just gave him a smile, "The summer's months are months six, seven, and eight. Which is Ro…Ku…Na…which means you're a bad person." He explained in minor detail.

"Wow, you're really good Conan-kun!" Ayumi cheered

Genta slumped, "That's so boring." He complained

Naruto chuckled a bit, "Then go onto a website or something that has tough questions so you can stump him." he answered to his urge to beat Conan.

"That's cheating though; we have to come up with it." Mitsuhiko pointed out as the blond boy shrugged.

"Some could call it that, or others call it thinking outside the box." he said with a fox-like smile.

Conan muttered something about scary eight year olds. They all moved to the crosswalk as it was flashing green, showing it was about to turn red.

"Ah! Let's get moving!" Genta shouted in urgency.

"Hey!" a strong voice called out, "You can't cross yet." A tall man stated with a stern look, "The flashing green light is the same as a red stoplight." He added

"Yes." The kids choired.

"Guess we got in trouble." Mitsuhiko whispered to the group as the man walked away to a nearby phone booth.

"We can't help it, the man is right." Ayumi added in a pouty tone.

Conan took a glance at the man as he pulled out a notebook from his breast pocket and started dialing the payphone.

"I have a quiz for you guys." Conan stated with a small smile, "What do you think that man's job is?"

"Eh?" the three kids said in surprise as Naruto cocked his head to the side.

"Is he a teacher?" Ayumi asked

"Maybe he's a business man…even though he has no briefcase…" Mitsuhiko guessed

"Maybe a chef?" Genta said, no doubt thinking with his stomach.

"He's a cop." Naruto said with a lazy smile and Conan nodded to him.

"Why?"

Naruto hummed a bit and started to count on his finger, "Well, first, cop hair, next, his posture and presence along with a gruff attitude. Next how he pulled out his notebook, cops like to turn it sideways like that…also, I've seen him before." He finally admitted, getting everyone to face fall.

"Then why didn't you just say that!" the kids shouted at him and the blond shrugged carelessly.

"I've only met the guy maybe once or twice. He worked with Kaa-san on a few cases. Didn't really get his name though." The whiskered boy said as held a finger to his chin, "Naruzawa or something like that."

"Well, the notebook thing you got right." Conan said with a shake of his head.

The light turned green and Genta announced that they could cross and so the group did so.

As they did, Conan turned around to see the police officer one last time as a person walked in front of the booth.

Naruto's ears picked up the faint sound of a 'pew pew pew' and went rigid and heard Conan gasp.

The blond swirled around and blue orbs widened in horror as the officer clutched his chest while falling to the ground whilst the attacker ran away.

"That man's been shot!" Conan shouted and dropped his umbrella.

"Call for an ambulance!" Naruto shouted to the group as Conan ran across the street, but was forced back by the traffic.

"You got it!" Mitsuhiko said as he pulled out his cell phone.

"The stairway!" Naruto shouted as he was already going there and started running up it with Conan not far behind him.

Naruto hopped the rail and started taking off his white shirt while Conan ran the other way after the murderer.

Naruto skidded across the ground to the victim and held his shirt over the officer's chest, "Oi, oi, Narasawa right? Stay with big guy, come on." Naruto said while applying pressure to the tight cluster wound.

The large officer gurgled at him with gasps of pain.

A few seconds later Conan was next to him, "Hang in there." He encouraged to the officer.

"Dammit, too much blood." Naruto cried out in worry and he used more pressure.

"Oji-san, did you see who did this, anything?" Conan asked, already getting that part, and hopefully try to get the guy who did it.

The man painfully grabbed his breast pocket and looked Conan and Naruto in the eye before they lulled to sleep, never to wake.

"Dammit!" Naruto shouted in anger.

The light had turned green and the Detective Boys made it across the street and gasped at what they saw.

A group of people start to surround them. Naruto snarled at them as they just stood there, watching, "Oi! Show some respect, get out of here!" he shouted at them, getting people to move along.

The blond shoulders sagged as his hair covered his eyes like a curtain in sadness. Conan put a hand on his shoulder as a means of support, but the blond didn't really feel it at this moment. Perhaps he would later on.

**0 Police Station 0**

The media was outside, like vultures, waiting for whatever the police had to say about the incident as the Detective boys were inside, being reviewed.

Naruto had been given another shirt and a chance to get the blood off of him.

Detective Mouri and his daughter Ran were there along with Megure, Miwako, Takagi, and some other officers.

"Sorry to have to ask you this so many times…but can you describe the murderer?" Megure asked softly.

"He was a young man." Mitsuhiko answered

"No, she was a beautiful woman." Genta interrupted.

Ayumi shook her head, "No, it was a middle aged man." She argued.

"What about his umbrella." Takagi asked while taking notes.

"It was black." Mitsuhiko answered once again.

"It's green, green." Genta argued.

"I thought it was blue." Ayumi admitted.

Naruto rubbed his eyes; those were the people they pasted on the crosswalk, nowhere near the scene of the crime.

Mouri leaned in with narrowed eyes, "Did you guys really see him?" he asked with his hands on his hips, clearly spectacle.

Miwako looked over to the other two children in the room, "What about you Conan-kun, Naruto-kun?"

"His raincoat and umbrella were both grayish…" Conan answered

"Neutral colors to blend into a crowd, so we can clearly say it was intended and he at least knew what he was doing." Naruto added as he leaned his elbow on the table and cupped his cheek, "He fired from his left since his umbrella was in his right, right?" he asked Conan, who nodded at that assessment.

"So the murderer is left handed." Megure stated as he leaned forward on the table a bit in thought.

"Lack of sound from the shots, it would also say he had a silencer, three shots." Naruto added, mulling over everything he could remember, "The collar was too high, so I can't really remember the gender."

"Hm." Megure said in thought.

"But inspector," Mouri interrupted, "What about the fact of Narasawa dying holding his left breast pocket?" he asked

Megure leaned towards him, "We believe he was indicating to us something about his memo pad." Another officer walked in with a stack of papers, "Right now, we're in the process of reading it."

"inspector Megure…" the officer said as he leaned in, "The gun used was reported to be a nine millimeter pistol.

"Nine millimeter huh…" Megure spaced out a bit in thought.

"It's a gun even a frail woman can handle." Mouri stated

_'Leaving gender still up in the air.' _Naruto thought to himself as he looked at his mother, who showed a worry look at him, but he just gave her a smile, hoping it was put her at easy.

"You guys are lucky you didn't get caught in the middle of that." Ran scolded lightly to the group of kids, "Especially you Conan-kun." Conan just nodded his head at her and responded with a 'yeah', but his eyes glazed over in thought.

The adults continued to talk and the kids were dismissed.

**0 Sato Apartment 0**

Naruto walked sluggishly through the door with his mother not too far behind him.

Miwako locked the door and put her bag down, "Are you sure you don't remember anything else." She silently stressed.

"No, I don't." Naruto gruffly replied and winced, "Sorry, just…"

His mom just put a gentle hand on his shoulder, making him relax quickly, "I know, stressful." Miwako answered for him while gnawing on her bottom lip, "I just…"

"Worry?" Naruto answered for her with a twinkle in his eyes, which the mother huffed at.

"Yes, we tend to do that just so you know."

"Ah, I see, I see."

"Don't get smart with me young man. Now go to bed, it's late and we have that wedding tomorrow." Miwako said sternly.

Naruto rolled his eyes a bit, "You'd think they'd cancel it, but no, have to give the tough image, don't you." He commented, and got swatted on the back of the head, releasing a yelp.

Miwako, hands on hips, the standard mothering pose, "Yes, we do. It shows that even during times like this, we aren't going to back down from some lowlife who has it in for an officer."

Naruto shrugged, "Okayyyy." He said with a yawn and rubbed his eye a bit, "Well, I'm tired, see you in the morning Kaa-san."

Miwako knelt down and kissed the top of his head, "Night sweetie." She said kindly while going to her own room.

Naruto headed to his room and threw on some PJ's as he rolled his shoulder a bit and hopped into bed and tired to close his eyes.

Sadly, he kept seeing the officers dying face in his dreams that night.

**0 The next morning 0**

A yawn initiated Naruto's wake up and his blinked the sand from his eyes and looked at the time, 10:42. He loved weekends.

Naruto walked out of his room to see his mom on the phone in deep conversation, with a few yells here or there, as he walked to the table to see a somewhat warm breakfast waiting for him.

He sat and started to eat and looked to his right to see the newspaper. Another officer had been killed!

"Two in one day?" the blond boy murmured in surprise as he ate his waffle.

Miwako slammed the phone in a low growl, "Honestly." She muttered as she walked to the table and ate the remains of her waffles in a grumpy mood.

"So I guess it wasn't random huh?" the blue eyed boy said, trying to get more insight of what had happened.

"I guess not." Miwako merely answered, showing she didn't want to talk about it.

They sat in silence for a bit as Naruto started to fidget with his food somewhat from the uncomfortable atmosphere.

"So the wedding is at twelve, best start getting ready." Miwako said, finishing the last bite of her food and gentle gulp of juice.

"You mean for you to get ready." Naruto wittingly stated as he finished his food quickly.

"Ara, so the little boy has a big mouth on him…well, we'll see about that." Miwako grinned as she grabbed the boy's whiskered cheeks and pulled, getting yelps from the young boy.

"Ow ow ow!" Naruto shouted and waved his arms around and tried to pull his mother off his sensitive cheeks!

After having her fun, Miwako let go and leaned into the back of her chair as she crossed arms, smug filled the air. Naruto rubbed his face a bit and gave her a half lidded glare as he pushed out of his chair and, "I'll get ready, see you in an hour!" he said as he dodged the napkin ball aimed at his head.

**0 One hour later 0**

Naruto played with the collar of his white dress shirt and tried to adjust his tie that matched his eye color, "I hate wearing these things, so stuffy." He complained to his mom as she smoothed out his black jacket and matching pants.

"Aw, but it makes you look so handsome." She teased with a grin as she stood up and ruffled his hair. Sadly, the only thing she couldn't tame no matter the effort she put into it. The spikes just wouldn't stay down no matter how much jell she put on it. Even when she soaked the spikes down with water they just stood back up when his hair dried.

Naruto looked at his mother, who was wearing a pale green dress, with a forest green jacket that had a red Chinese dragon on it with a simple necklace and light red lipstick.

Miwako looked at the watch on her wrist, "Well, time to hit the road Naruto-kun." She said while grabbing her small purse.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders and followed. The wedding party for Shiratori's sister was all cops and some government officials along with barely any kids he knew and that just made it boring for him.

They made it to the Sun Plaza hotel in record time and Miwako handed the keys over to the valet.

As they entered, Naruto saw a lot of officers he had met before, some looking at his mother too long for his liking of course.

After being introduced to some people from his mother, Naruto got bored and asked if he could walk around. His mother nodded without a second thought.

Naruto strolled around and saw Chief Odagiri in the crowd as he walked with a small plate of foreign named appetizers he didn't care to even know. After about twenty minutes, he was just sooo bored out of his mind!

There were barely any kids around this time.

His ears picked up some chatter, "-Sato-san seems to be having fun." The voice said and looked around for his mother, only to see her with Takagi.

"Oh? You think this dress looks bad on me?" Miwako asked teasingly to her colleague.

Takagi straighten up and shook his head, "N-Not at all! It looks very nice!"

"Oh great." The blond groined as he walked up to the group to see Conan! "Finally!" he cheered as he placed his plate onto a table and rushed over. Someone he can chat with!

"Yo!" Naruto said to the group of women and one boy.

"Naruto?" Conan said with a raised eyebrow.

"Ah, Naruto-kun." Ran said with a smile as Sonoko gave a small wave as they walked towards him along with another woman Naruto didn't know. However when Naruto got a good look at her he froze in his spot.

"_Wow_" Naruto thought to himself in awe as he viewed the unknown woman.

She was a beautiful young woman in her mid to late thirties who was fairly tall and had light skin. She has long and wavy brown hair with shorter bangs framing the sides of her face, most of which was kept done up in a bun. She possessed a slender yet curvy body indicating possible exercise or that she kept her body in good shape. However looking at her arms Naruto deduced it may be more of a healthy diet seeing that her muscles weren't firm looking like Ran's were from her karate practices. The woman was wearing business suit and a simple pair of glasses.

"Isn't that the detective boy?" the attractive older woman asked.

"Mm." Ran nodded, "Kaa-san, this is Sato Naruto-kun, Detective Sato son."

"And future bishounen." Sonoko added teasingly.

Hearing Sonoko's comment, he broke out of his daze. "Not a pretty boy." Naruto grumbled as he crossed his arms with a pout…which just made him look more adorable. However a look of surprise suddenly appeared on Naruto's face as he pointed at Eri. "Wait! Your Ran's mom!?" he asked in disbelieve earning stunned looks from the four of them in return.

"Of course she is! Why would you ask that when I just told you a minute ago!?" Ran questioned as she felt a little offended the way he asked it as if he couldn't believe it for some reason.

Seeing the hint of anger Naruto shook his hands. "No it's that I have trouble believing she's your mom it's something else".

Now they all had raised eyebrows in confusion at what he meant.

"_Something else?_" Conan thought wondering what his blonde friend was questioning.

"Then what is it?" Ran asked slowly.

"Well I'd personally like to know how it's physically possible that someone like that…" Naruto said pointing to Kogoro Moure who finished a drink and let out a ridiculous laugh. "Could end up snagging someone as pretty. clear headed and obviously smart like you?" he said with clearly no understanding of the answer to his question.

When they heard his question they each had a different reaction. Conan bit into his fist hard to hold in a snigger that was threatening to escape, Ran had an awkward look as she seemed to take some dislike to the question, Sonoko however giggled lightly as she found it hilarious while Eri had a smile on her face at that question.

Ran gave an awkward laugh as her mother just chuckled at the statement.

"Ahh well aren't you a sweetie for asking that" she said as she knelt down and ruffled his hair gently which Naruto found himself liking and trying to hide a growing blush when her face was close. "Well, let's just say it's a story you would have to hear." The mother answered as the lights dimmed.

All eyes turned to the center area where the entertainment was and a spotlight shined down.

**"Everyone, please lend me your ears." **The announcer said, **"Thank you for joining us today. Now, let's give a round of applause for the bride and groom!" **he said as he extended his arm for a spotlight to hit the ones to be wed while they walked forward.

Everyone clapped for the pair and the party continued on with soothing music.

As the party dragged on, Naruto stayed by Conan and they just chatted aimlessly about stuff to tide over this somewhat kid boring affair.

After awhile, Shiratori walked up to the group along with a paler clone of himself with even puffier hair…Naruto was looking in disbelief.

"Mouri-san." Shiratori said getting the man's attention.

The slightly drunk detective turned around with a drink in hand and smiled at the detective, "Hey, congratulations." Mouri said to the inspector and said inspector bowed back to him.

"Thank you." He said as he stood up and pointed to the man next to him, "Let me introduce you. This is our medical examiner for the case, Kyosuke Kazato-sensei." He said as the man bowed his head lightly.

"Please to meet you." He said as he and Mouri shook hands.

"I'm Morui." He said as he pointed out everyone else, "This is my wife Eri, and my daughter Ran. And a leecher named Conan." Conan just gave him a glare, "And this is Detective Sato's son, Naruto." And Naruto just nodded his head to the doctor.

"So Shiratori-san, why the medical examiner?" Eri asked

"Being the supervisor, I must be bery careful about this case."

"Just in case you jump to conclusions…again." Naruto added with a grin as the man threw the boy an eye twitch.

"Also," the inspector said, leaning more into Mouri in a whisper, "Mouri-san, I thought it would be good for you to get a check up."

Mouri held his chin, "My memory has been pretty bad lat-…Hey! What's that suppose to mean?!" he shouted at the man comically.

Everyone laughed at his expense.

Though Mouri did pound Conan on the head for laughing too much. The man quickly went after inspector Megure, "Inspector!" he called out, getting the man to stop.

"Ah, Mouri-kun."

"How's the investigation going?" Mouri asked

"Sorry, I can't discuss that now." Megure said in a dismissive tone and a wave of his hand as he walked away.

Mouri was taken back, "Why won't he discuss it with me?" he asked aloud.

"He probably knows something you're not allowed to know." Conan stated

Mouri turned to him with an 'eh?' and saw Takagi and grabbed him by the collar, "Is that true Takagi?!" he demanded the young officer.

"Well…it's nothing!" the man admitted.

"I think violence is needed to get his mouth loose Mouri-san." Naruto idly commented.

Conan just gave him a deadpan, _'Oi oi, you're getting way too into this.' _"Hey, Takagi-san, you're in love with Sato-san, right?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes at that, "Do you have a death wish specs?" the blond said with a threat in his tone.

Conan felt a bead of sweat roll down the side of his head, "Sh." He said to the boy, and pointed to Mouri.

Mouri just blink and grinned, "Interesting! I'm going to tell her how you feel!" he threatened and let go of the man to do just that. However he suddenly felt a pain in his shin as he yelped and held his aching shin as he now stood on one foot. He turned to see that Naruto had kicked him.

"If you take one more step towards my Kaa-san to tell her about this buffoons feelings towards her then I will personally dedicate my life to making yours a world of swirling horror and nightmares that will leave you insane with paranoia as you always look over your shoulder to see if I'm there while never knowing if I really am." Naruto said with a disturbing tone as if he would actually do it which left Moure feeling really creped out. He hadn't felt this creped out since Eri gave him her frightening look.

Seeing him stopped Naruto turned to Takagi. "And as for you Takagi, you had better tell Moure what he wants to know cause otherwise I will use you as a guinea pig for all my new prank ideas 24/7 for the next 3 months. If you thought what happened to you at the HQ was bad then you have no idea how horrifying I can make it for you when I'm angry." He finished with an evil looking smirk as his eyes seemed to sparkle for a moment.

Overcome with fear and his mind flashing back to all the pranks he suffered at Naruto's hands, Takagi decided it was better to spill the beans than face the Loki of Japan when he's pissed at him.

"Okay okay I'll talk" Takagi said quickly without any hesitation.

"Good." Naruto said with a happy smile now on his face as his personality did a 180 before he punched Conan in the arm.

"Ouch!" Conan shouted as he rubbed his arm and narrowed a glare at the blond, "Jerk." He muttered.

Takagi whispered so no one would hear, "When officer Shibo was killed, he was grabbing his police memo pad."

"What?!" Mouri shouted.

"Like Narasawa?" Naruto asked in surprise while Conan gasped at that info.

"That is enough information given, Mouri-san." Shiratori stated as he walked up to the group, "The rest is _Need Not to Know_, if you understand." He said as Mouri gasped at him and turned away with Takagi following him.

"_Need Not to Know_. So they won't tell me more about the case." Mouri muttered to himself, "That can't be."

Naruto's brow knitted. He remembered hearing that once, that meant the police were hiding information, but, from what, or rather who?

Naruto broke away from the group to roam around a bit on his own, trying to listen in to other conversations that may have had some relevance to the case at hand. He heard idle chatter, but nothing he didn't already know sadly.

He heard the ruckus the Chief's son Toshiya, but ignored it in favor of just lounging around a bit.

**0 Later 0**

Nature called and Naruto went to the bathroom to answer it. As he finished and was washing his hands, the lights went off, "What?" Naruto muttered in surprise as he heard shouts from the women's bathroom. He dried his hands on his pants and ran out the room, only to be bump into someone.

He looked up and since it was dark, he couldn't really see their face, but from the build he hit, he figured it was a guy.

The dark figure's eyes widened, but heard a shout from the bathroom, no doubt it would bring attention to others. So, the man fled.

The blond got up and hurried into the bathroom, only to come to a sight that filled him with dread.

There on the ground was his beloved mother's body, leaking blood from four holes in her body no doubt caused by a gun laid over with Ran looking knocked out and underneath her mom's body.

"Kaa-san." He muttered, eyes widened, they moistened as he shouted, "Kaa-san!" he cried out as he ran to his mother.

Ran was covered in blood, probably his mother's, but he didn't care right now, he pulled his mother off the girl and held the detective close as he started to feel numb.

Moments later, Conan, Mouri, and Takagi entered the room in a dash.

"Ran!" Mouri shouted seconds later and fell to the floor next to his mother's body and held his distraught daughter.

"Kaa-san!" Naruto shouted with fallen tears as his throat tightened. He held her tighter and shook her a bit, hoping she would wake up.

"Ran-nee-san only lost consciousness." Conan said as he looked over Ran.

Moments later the Chief, Megure and Shiratori ran in.

"T-This is…" Megure trailed off in horror.

"Call an ambulance!" the Chief ordered, "Shiratori, make sure all the exits in the hotel are closed!"

"Yes!" the young inspector answered.

"Hello? A woman's been shot on the fifteenth floor of the hotel. Get an ambulance immediately." Megure ordered off his phone.

"Oi, oi, come on." Naruto said in a panic as he kept trying to wake her up.

A few minutes later the paramedics came in, and Megure gently knelt next to Naruto, "Naruto-kun, we have to let the men take her, come on." He said as he grabbed the blonds' shoulder, but Naruto didn't move an inch, "Oi, Takagi, give me a hand." Takagi nodded as he grabbed one of the boy's arms as Megure did the same to the other and jolted the boy from his inner shock as he was pulled away.

What happened next, well, the blue eyed boy didn't know what had happened, but a bubble of anger rose to his chest, and something like an adrenalin boost maybe?

Naruto saw red, and not just the blood on the ground or on his hands. He wrestled his arm out of Megure's grip with amazing strength and swiped at Takagi, "Don't touch me!" he shouted and slashed at the young man.

"Ah!" Takagi shouted and held his forearm, letting go of Naruto, and looked down to see four deep cuts in his arm.

Conan, who was looking at the scene, twirled around and froze for a second, and in the one second felt deep unadulterated fear. Naruto's eyes were red, not from being puffy or anything, but his blue eyes were crimson red, like the type you'd see in some kind of monster in those horror movies.

Before it escalated further, the Chief was behind the boy and knocked him out with a chop to the back of the neck.

All was quiet for the mere moment.

"Takagi-kun, are you alright?" Chief Odagiri asked, seeing the young man holding his arm.

"Um, yeah." Takagi said with a wince and looked at his arm again, "What was that?"

"Shock." The Chief answered in a beat of a second, "Mixed with anger, fear, and who knows what else. Blended all together, the boy acted out." he stated as the paramedics took the body of Miwako onto the stretcher, "Takagi-kun, have that looked at." He finished as he picked up the boy, "Megure, take him with you." He ordered as the larger police officer, who nodded without second thought.

As the paramedics loaded Miwako into the ambulance, Megure placed Naruto down on one of the seats and sat down himself as they drove to Bekia Hospital.

**0**

Naruto stirred in from his sleep and woke up with a sharp gasp, "Kaa-san!" he cried out and looked around.

"Naruto-kun." A voice said as Yumi rushed in with some cans of juice and put them down and hugged him.

"What happened, where's Kaa-san?" he asked in a frantic tone, "Please tell me that was a dream, please Nee-chan." He begged as his chest clinched.

"It-It's not Naruto-kun." She said as she hugged him tighter, "They, they're still operating on her." Yumi answered with puffy eyes as she bit her lip in worry.

"Is she going to be okay?" he asked with worry as he choked out a sob, his eyes screwed shut in hurt.

Yumi was silent for a beat before she spoke, "I, we, we don't know yet."

A soft knock came from the door and Megure walked in with Shiratori.

"Ah, Naruto-kun, you're awake." The older man said with a smile that didn't really reach his face. He walked over and sat on one of the chairs near the bed, "The surgery is over, they got all the bullets out." he confirmed to the two and before they could give a sigh of relief, he broke the news, "But, they aren't sure if she'll make it." He said forlornly.

The pair just felt a wave of grief wash over them, neither not knowing what to do or say.

"Naruto-kun." Shiratori spoke in a kind tone, and it wasn't one of his fake ones that urked Naruto from what the boy could tell, "You were there correct? Before any of us?" he asked as he leaned lightly on the bed, "This is truly important…did you see anything? Anything that looked out of place or anybody?"

Naruto sniffled a bit, and spoke up, "I, well, I was in the bathroom, I was just washing my hands when the lights went out, and heard shouting in the girls bathroom, so I ran to check." He said as his breath hitched a bit, "I bumped into someone…that was him, wasn't it?" he said in a quiet tone.

"Most likely." Megure answered, "But a him? Are you sure, could you tell us more?" he asked

"Inspector." Yumi hissed at them and was about to tell them to leave the blond alone, before Naruto spoke up again.

"Yeah, from what I could tell from bumping into him, he was a guy. It was too dark and my eyes didn't fully adjust yet, but I could tell he was male. Maybe a thin stature…a little bit tall, not too tall, maybe," he turned to Shiratori, "About the inspector's height, but I'm not really sure." He said as he head hung, "Sorry." He said to them.

"No, no, this could truly help us Naruto-kun, thank you." The younger inspector stated.

"But, what about Ran-nee-san? She was there!" Naruto pointed out with hopefully eyes, "Maybe she saw something!" he declared

Shiratori and Megure looked at one another, before turning back to blue eyed boy, "Naruto-kun, Ran-san went into shock and gained amnesia from the incident."

Naruto blinked, and blinked as he looked at the man, disbelief on his face, "What?" he asked in a hollowed tone.

"Ran-kun held a flashlight during the moment the shots were made, we've come to the belief that she may have felt responsible for Sato-kun's attack in a way and retreated into her mind in some kind of way…or that is what Kazato-sensei suspects." Megure explained with a contemplated look.

It wasn't surprising that Naruto's face turned into something akin to frustration at such news. The boy gritted his teeth and let out a shaky breath as his brow knitted, "Okay." He simply said, but it was rough.

Shiratori looked at his watch, "We best get going." He said quietly to the elder inspector and looked back to two in the room, Naruto-kun, Miyamoto-san." He said off in a goodbye with Megure nodding to them as well while making their exit.

Yumi pulled Naruto closer to her as she started to sob into his hair. The blond boy felt such a weight on his shoulders, and it wasn't Yumi's…was this a price too for getting away from it all?

Was it?

That and other dark thoughts plagued his mind as he hugged Yumi back in some way of telling each other that it would be okay. But it was sure that it may very well not be in a few days time.

"Yumi-nee-san?"

"Yes Naruto-kun?"

The blond sighed tiredly, "Can I…can I have some alone time?" he asked in a pleading tone.

Yumi looked unsure, "I, I don't think you should." She stated with worry as she didn't feel comfortable leaving him alone. She had heard about his outburst at the crime scene and felt that he shouldn't be left alone with the possibility of him getting overcome with anger.

"I know, but, my head is a mess and I really need to sort it out, please?" he asked once more and the woman caved.

"Okay." She said and gave him one more hug and ruffled his head, much to the boy's protest.

As Yumi left with a wave, Naruto sat in silence for a bit before he let out a laugh, "Look at you, trying to play ninja, cute." He stated as Conan walked by the open door and had a serious glint in his eyes.

"How are you?" was the first thing Conan could think of to ask. He liked Naruto, he did; he wouldn't wish this on anyone. But the blond before him was far more adult then a child; he could only wonder what was going on in that skull of his.

"Processing." Was the quick retort with a gruff, "So, not going home?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

Conan shook his head, "Her parents are staying, so I am too for the night and maybe a bit longer. She's asleep so I thought someone needed some company."

"Don't throw me pity glasses boy." Naruto said with an icy tone as he narrowed his eyes at the other boy and then turned his head to the window outside, "So, Ran-nee-san's got amnesia?" the blond boy asked, with a tight tone.

"Yes." Conan said with down casted eyes, but he Naruto clinch the sheets of his bed tightly with shaking hands and the boy detective narrowed his eyes, "You can't honestly blame her for this." The glasses wearing boy said as he crossed his arms.

Naruto inhaled and exhaled after a few second, "I am…annoyed, yes. But I can't really blame her…it would be easy. I am really _really _trying to be rational here…no matter how much I want to rip this fuckers throat open." He spat out the swear.

Conan gave the boy some props, a kid would just blame the first person they could in this kind of situation. Sadly, he could still feel that Naruto was blaming Ran in a small way and that irked the shrunken teen.

At least the blond was trying.

"So, what's the case?" Naruto asked, getting Conan out of his stupor.

"Hm?"

The blond turned his head back to the detective and locked eyes, "I think we're smart enough to lose our masks Conan." Naruto said in a serious tone as his blue eyes turned as cold as ice chips, "So put aside the childish prattle…and talk." He said in a smooth tone.

Conan closed the door and leaned against the wall of room, "So you noticed."

Naruto snorted, "How you fool people with your act is really funny, but if someone looks hard enough, they can see it. He can make innocent comments all you want, but some of those are key points for a case I've noticed." The blond boy stated with no doubt in his tone.

"Ho? So you noticed that." Conan stated, with an almost amused look.

"Yes…what do you know about the case?" the spiky haired boy inquired.

"What makes you think I know anything?"" the glasses boy asked innocently.

Naruto just gave him a deadpan.

Conan held his hands in the air, "Fine, fine, I'll tell you what I heard."

And so he did.

A doctor named Tobotsu Jinno was killed in his apartment. The investigation was held by Megure's old police partner Keibu Tomoari. Officer Narasawa, Officer Shiba , and his mother worked under his jurisdiction during this murder. The man was heavily intoxicated and appeared to have killed himself with a knife. The first witness happened to be his younger sister, Tamaki, who lived nearby. She was at the party. Also, according to Conan, the doctor was accused multiply times for malpractice and the police assumed that it was a suicide.

However, his younger sister testified that her brother was a selfish, horrible doctor who tried to get away with anything he could. She said that suicide would be virtually impossible for him to commit. A week after the murder, Officer Tomonari observed some suspicious activity by a purple haired man at a nearby storage facility.

Just in case, Tomonari brought along Shiba, Narasawa, and his mother along with him. Due to the intense heat during the steak out, the older Officer Tomonari had a heart attack, but left while ordering the continuation of the steak out. His mother had followed the elder officer out of worry and found him on the ground. She brought him to the hospital, but he died on the operating table. The other officers found out that the facility belonged to the Chief's son, Toshiya. But, because the fact that the Chief's son could be connected to a murder, they decided to leave it a suicide.

The investigation ended then and there. Later on, the doctor's sister was interrogated, but confirmed that Toshiya had no connection to her brother. Though, Tomonari had a son, who, just so happened, to be at the party. At the officer's funeral, the young man claimed he could never forgive the officers for not saving his father. After all that, the officers had taken time off while his mother was transferred to HQ here.

But, amazing, it was Shiratori who found out something, it was his mother who continued the investigation along with the other officers. But his mother wasn't aware of the connection between Jinno and Toshiya. And soon after, the killing started and the police felt there was a connection between them. There was a major possibility that there was a leak in the Force. Takagi investigated Tomonari's son while Shiratori investigated Toshiya. Megure believed his mother was in danger, so he tried to get her a guard, but she refused.

Naruto leaned back into his pillow and released a frustrated sigh, "Okay, a lot to take in." he said to himself, "So far all we know is…"

_No evidence on Toshiya._

_Where is Tomonari Makoto?_

_The Chief maybe a suspect._

_All suspects are left handed._

_The Murderer is left handed._

"That is some list." Naruto mused as Conan nodded. The blond looked at the time and noticed how late it was, "Well, best get some sleep. See you in the morning Conan." The boy said to the shrunken teen as he shifted under the sheets and turned away from his friend.

"Sure Naruto, night." Conan said as he left, never noticing the dark look in the blue eyed boy.

**0 The next morning 0**

Naruto was leaning on the railing on the roof as he watched down to see the Detective Boys talking to Ran with Professor Agasa nearby.

Strangely Ai was missing.

He heard the creaking of a door as a voice spoke, "Hm, how did I know this would be where you are?" the boy turned to see the missing girl.

Naruto gave a flat look, "Best vantage point in the hospital and only one entrance here which I messed with the hinges to give off that loud squeak so I couldn't be snuck up on." He answered tactically.

Ai blinked, debating whether to comment on it, "You do know they've been looking for you, right?" she asked, referring to the Detective Boys.

Naruto gave a grunt and turned back around to look down at the group, "Not really in the mood." He answered in a gruff tone.

"You do know you're not alone right?" Ai stated, she carried an almost chiding but also a kind tone as she said it though.

Naruto sighed as he leaned his head into the chained linked fence, "…I know, but…I might say something bad since I'm really angry and irritable right now."

Ai stepped forward as put a gentle hand on his shoulder. She didn't say anything and she really didn't have to, what she said was clear.

I'm here to help if you need me.

And the blond boy appreciated it as he felt her take her hand off and walked towards the door.

As Ai closed the door, she heard a mumbled thanks, and she smiled a bit as she left the boy to his thoughts.

Moments pasted as Naruto felt the breeze pass by him every once in a while and he took a deep breath of the air. He then spun on his heel; he cleared his head enough for now. He proceeded down to the door and headed downstairs and hit a crowd as it seemed the hospital was still busy as ever.

As he waded through the crowd he froze.

His neck hackled as he looked around, feeling as though he was being watched…of course! The guy would try to finished job since he had two witnesses!

He felt a new feeling course through him. His eyes narrowed with hidden rage as he felt the desire to try and find the guy and kill him. Since the culprit was merely watching him in a crowded area in daylight it was obvious he was observing him to check out how much he saw when he bumped into him. The other feeling was caution, if he dared to reveal that he knew he was being watched by him and made a move on him then he might take a hostage or injure someone nearby.

With contempt Naruto decided to just and see if the opportunity presented itself in a better moment.

The boy walked at a brisk pace towards his room, but he still felt he was being looked at. As he continued to his room, he lost all the feeling of his hidden stalkers stare to his disappointment.

"_I will find you, you bastard and when I do you'll pay for what you did to my mother. I SWEAR ON IT!"_

He was leaving later today, and he was thankful for it, he hated hospitals.

**0 That afternoon 0**

Naruto gave a sad smile at seeing his apartment and Yumi gave him a gentle squeeze on his shoulder. He was assigned two police guards to watch over him as Ran had been given two officers to watch over her as well.

Yumi had to go back on her shift and kissed the blond on the head as she hugged him tightly and left. Of course she threatened the two officers if anything happened to him or if they tried to go through any of Miwako's stuff, she'd cut off their nuts.

Needlessly, they agreed readily.

As the boy laid in his bed while listening to some music, he just couldn't stop thinking very dark thoughts. The numbed feeling of last night had faded and bottled downed anger replaced it. The thought of his mother's attacker still being on the loose burned his soul greatly…and he just couldn't take it anymore!

Naruto shot out of his bed, "No more." He murmured as he walked into his mother's room as he passed the one officer's watching T.V., as the other was outside to check if anyone suspious would come around the house, and told him if he wanted a pizza since they were ordering. He just waved them off saying he would make something later.

As he opened his mother's door, he looked around sadly. He went to her personal computer and turned it on. After he typed the password he started to search.

"Okay, so this case was a year ago, but knowing Kaa-san, she would have kept some personal notes at least." The boy reasoned and continued to look through any files he could find.

Sadly they were pass worded and after ten minutes the boy slammed his head on the table, "I give up." He said weakly, he could not for the life of him figure out what she used as the password.

After rubbing his eyes in frustration, he could only use what he had, what Conan had told him.

_Toshiya._

With quick fingers he looked up the guy, a wannabe punk rocker. He had a show in two days it seemed. Huh, he did like rock; maybe it would be a good listen. But, two days was far too long a wait, so he would have to see one other person tomorrow, and that would be the day he would make his move.

So he got some supplies. A backpack filled with some spare clothes, a black wig he used when his fans chased him, sunglasses, money, his knife, some ration bars, flashlight, rope, a voice changer, and some pranking supplies.

By the time he finished packing and prepping, it was night.

"Look at this mess!" Yumi's voice shouted as the guy scrambled at her rants to clean up the house.

After checking on Naruto, Yumi occupied his mom's room so she could stay over as the officers took shifts on who would stand watch outside.

**0 The next afternoon 0**

After Yumi had said her goodbyes and threaten the officers guarding him to her amusement, she went to work. As he let the afternoon settle in, the blond boy decided it was time to make his move.

Naruto left the GPS of his cellphone on his bed with a note saying he would be back soon when he was done. So he lifted his window and jumped out and put his wig on along with his sunglasses. He was wearing a brown hoodie that was grey on the inside so he could switch out the colors when he needed too. He wore grey shorts with black high tops. He hefted his backpack on his shoulder and ran to the more busier area of the neighborhood where he could catch a cab to his destination.

Chief Odagiri's house.

He waved over a cab and gave the address to the house. After about a twenty minute drive and giving the cab driver a bit of an extra tip with the cash he had, he headed to the gate and knocked.

"Who is it?" the intercom asked moments later.

"Sato Naruto here to see Chief Odagiri." The hidden blond stated.

There was a moment of quiet, before the intercom answered, "Come in." said the voice as the gate opened to show a maid, "Please follow me." she said as she turned to walk into the home with Naruto following her with light steps after removing his shoes.

As he walked into the living room, he saw the Chief in business attire, like he had left early from work, but was a bit more casual as his shirt was untucked and wore his tie loose. The man took off his tie to at least clean up his appearance and sat down on the couch and gestured for Naruto to sit to take the adjacent one on the other side of the table that separated.

Naruto took the offered seat and took off his glasses and wig, "Chief Odagiri." He said with a curt nod.

"Naruto-san." He said with a nod of his own, "I am surprised to see you here. May I ask why?" the officer asked with a damn good poker face.

Naruto leaned forward in his seat, "I feel like using my grief in a more positive way then sitting and mopping." The boy said.

"So you are using your talents to figure out the case on your own." The elder man stated, easily figuring out what Naruto meant, "A commendable act but still foolish since this murderer is after both you and Mouri Ran. I feel your mother would not approve." He finished and noticed Naruto tense at the mention of his mother.

"Yes, well," Naruto said with gritted teeth, "She's currently in disposed to scold me on my reckless behavior." The boy answered, "I wanted to talk to you about the case my mother was on. You would know most since it was your son who put a damper on the investigation." He stated, trying to rile the man up as well.

The man didn't even flinch.

"True, but that was why I had it reinvestigated by Narasawa." The Chief stated, getting a surprised look from Naruto.

The blond boy rubbed his chin, "I see." He murmured, "I know the man was investigated for malpractice…but there is more, isn't there?" he asked, feeling there was much more to this, "I mean, if your son had become part of the investigation, it couldn't have been just about malpractice."

The man frowned at the boy, but didn't state what else could be the connection between the deceased doctor and the man's son.

After a bit of a stare down, Naruto came to a conclusion, "A typical stereotype for rockers is doing drugs…is that the connection?" he asked intently, "Was Jinno selling drugs?"

The older man was silent before speaking in a calm tone, "You have a sharp mind just as many say young man." He commented, not really agreeing nor disagreeing with the blond.

Naruto figured he was right.

"I see, is there anything you can tell me?" the boy asked

The man shook his head, "This is a police affair young man, it is our job to pursue this case, even with your reputation. But you should know that I had heard that Mouri Ran recently had an attempt on her life earlier." He stated, getting a surprised blink from the blond.

The blond tsk'd at this, "But, also a wide alert of a missing child by the name of Sato Naruto." The man continued as the boy glared at him, "I could just hold you here until some officers can pick you up."

"And I would really like it if you don't." Naruto stated in a void tone, "I have business to take care of."

"And why should that matter to me? I see a young and promising detective of the future in danger from a killer, so I ask again, why should I?"

Naruto's eyes turned icy, "Because, I _need _to do this." He stated with powerful resolve as he stood up and the older man did nothing but let the young boy leave.

The officer wondered how the boy could have such eyes.

The eyes of someone with nothing to lose.

**0 The next day, Concert 0**

The blond was used to living on the street, so one night on a rooftop or an alley way was no big deal to him at this point. Though he did see his name in the paper and news stories going on about where he could be.

As Naruto took a taxi down to the concert, he entered and stood in the back, but he was surprised to see Conan there and clicked his teeth, he was going to have to go faster at this right. He turned to the stage just as the song was about to end, he may not be able to afford to be gentle in his questioning either.

The wannabe rocker finished the song and broke one of the strings on his guitar loudly, making it echo through the room, getting everyone to be quiet.

He grabbed the microphone roughly and shouted, "You! Why do you keep following me around?!" he demanded towards the woman near Conan.

Jinno Takami! The sister of that doctor!

"Well, this is an interesting development." The hidden blond surmised as the woman answered him.

"Does it bother you?" she asked in a smug tone.

"What?" the guy asked dumbly.

The woman raised her arm and pointed a finger at the rocker, "Since you've decided to kill those two cops, I'm going to find evidence to prove it was you!" she declared to everyone in the room.

The man gasped at her as she walked out of the warehouse, but flashed the rocker a mocking smile before exiting. Conan hot on her heel.

The crowd started to leave and Naruto followed Toshiya as he left in a hurry. The man packed his things, looking to leave in a hurry. Ten minutes later, as the man left the warehouse, not even saying goodbye to his band mates, the blond stalked him.

Using his ninja stealth, the boy jumped from the roof tops as the rocker took out what looked like a blunt and started to light it.

Naruto pounced.

**0 With Conan 0**

Things had not been going good for the tiny detective, the umbrella had given him the way the murder had used his gun without having gunshot residue on him, but Jinno's sister and Toshiya looked like a dead lead thus far, so now he was with Takami at Chief Odagiri's place and the man told him that doctor Jinno was selling drugs and the man's son was involved someway, though it was probably just for a fix. But that could still be a good motive.

Oh, and Naruto was missing.

As he and Takami were leaving, the phone rang and Chief Odagiri picked it up, "Yes?" the older man asked as Conan lingered a bit to listen, "What?!" the man exclaimed, "What do you mean my son was attacked!" he demanded as he listen more intensely while using his other hand to hold him up on the table of the phone, "I see, did he know who it was? He was blindfolded and the perpetrator had a voice changer? I see. His wounds? superficial at best? That's good." He sighed in relief, "Have him brought in then." He ordered and hung up the phone.

The man palmed his face and ran it down it as he sighed.

"Your son was attacked?" Conan asked as he and Takami decided to stay to hear what was going on.

"Yes." Was all he said.

"Do you know who would do such a thing?" Takami asked, but seemed somewhat happy.

The elder officer was quiet for a bit before he spoke, "Young Sato-kun was here yesterday, asking similar questions to your own." The man admitted, "But even then I doubt he is capable of this." The man said in a low tone to himself.

Conan gasped, "And you didn't stop him?!" he shouted to the man.

Odagiri looked sharply at the boy, "You should have seen his eyes young man…you don't seem them on children, so I was shocked as he fled the house. I had called it in and told them he left as I was calling." He admitted as he did feel at fault, but didn't want to admit such a folly.

Conan gritted his teeth, but he had seen Naruto look cold before, when they were talking and he looked like he wanted blood.

The shrunken detective's eyes widened.

Naruto was going to kill the murderer!

The blond had to be found, and fast, the boy clinched his fists, he had to not only protect Ran but save Naruto.

From himself.

**0**

After being dropped off by a taxi ride with Takami, who offered to show him the police reports tomorrow, the glasses boy rushed into the house to find the one person who knew about Naruto's history the most, Mouri.

Conan walked into the office/living room of the apartment and saw Mouri watching some T.V. and laughing.

"Oji-san." Conan said in a serious tone.

"Eh?" Mouri said as he swiveled in his chair to face the boy, "What is it brat? I'm trying to enjoy some good ol' television."

"I wanted to ask you something?"

"About?"

"You remember how violent Naruto reacted to Sato-san being hurt right?"

The older man sighed, "Yeah a real shocker that was." The man mused as he lost some of his cheer.

"Well, this is about Naruto, right now."

The made the older detective straighten up, "What about him?" he asked in a cautious tone.

"He ran away, why do you think he would do that?" the boy detective asked as he walked a bit closer to the older man.

Mouri was quiet for a bit before he spoke, "Naruto is a complex kid from what I know, hard to tell what is going on in his head."

_'Exactly.' _Conan thought, "Yeah, I know, but, why? He had this _look _in his eye, like really hollow in the hospital. I'm really worried about him Oji-san." And that was the honest to god truth, the kid had real potential in him to be a great detective, but if Naruto goes down this way… "I mean, he's being targeted like Ran-nee-chan, so, you know…" he trailed off in a worried tone.

The famous detective sighed into his hand, "Naruto was an abused kid Conan." He stated with clinched teeth and tightened his other fist, making his knuckles pop, "When we found him…it, it was horrifying that someone, anyone could get away for doing this to a kid. It was a miracle that Naruto survived." He spat, "Whoever hurt him, who nearly broke a child like him, they got away." He said in bitter resentment as he had taken up the case on some off hours, trying to find these people but he never found anything to follow up on.

Conan was surprised, truly surprised. He only knew that Naruto was an orphan, but, that level of abuse? For what? Why? And he knew Mouri was not saying everything, but, if Naruto had that kind of life…would he be against striking back to those that hurt him or those he cares for? Dread filled the boy as Naruto might be doing something that could not be taken back.

"It was a good thing Sato took him in, if she hadn't, well, in the system? I don't think that he could have come as far as he has now." Mouri mused with a bit of a smile on his face, "But now? I have no idea what he could be thinking…and I fear the worst." He stated his worry.

And had a right too as that was what Conan believed that Naruto would do.

"Kami-sama seems to have really screwed him over." Mouri laminated resentfully, why did such a good kid have to suffer?

Conan nodded, "Thanks Oji-san…Don't worry, I'm sure Naruto'll be okay." He said in a mock cheerful tone and headed for a phone, he needed to talk to Haibara.

**0**

"Hello?" Ai answered as she picked up the phone, distracting her from her fashion book.

_"Haibara, I have a feeling of what Naruto is planning to do."_ Conan stated with a grim tone.

"What?" Ai asked with slight surprise.

_"He plans on finding the murderer and killing him."_

Ai was quiet for a moment as she took it in. A child willing to kill was, well, disturbing, especially at the age they were at right now, but on the other hand considering what happed to Sato-san, "Should we stop him?" she asked questioningly.

Conan sputtered on the other end, _"Of course!"_

"If I was in his position, I would do the same." She said with a voided tone, it was true, if she could kill Gin and Vodka, she would in a heartbeat and with nothing but a smile on her face.

Conan growled at the other end, _"Naruto is nothing like you Haibara, he is still a kid, a kid! He's already suffered so much, if he does this, he may not have any chance for happiness that he has or should rightfully deserve."_ He countered with heat.

Ai paused in her thoughts, she remembered her sister. She still missed her so much. She hated that nearly any happiness she had was taken from her…being a kid again was some of the best moments of her life right now. Deep down, she really didn't want someone so bright and cheerful as Naruto to experience that and turn away from his path. Naruto was clearly a person of light, while she was the dark, filled with pain. She truly couldn't let him be stained in the poison that was revenge.

"Alright, I'll do what I can." She answered and got a grateful replay from Conan.

They had to save the boy, not from the murderer, but himself it seemed.

**0 The next day, Tropical Land 0**

Naruto had concluded that he did not have enough evidence to figure out who the killer was. His interrogation with Toshiya turned up nothing except that the guy was nothing more than a druggie.

So he decided to do the next best course of action.

Bait.

He would follow Ran since the killer would no doubt be after her still since he could not find the boy.

After following the girl and her father, who were being shadowed by the Detective Boys rather poorly.

Naruto decided to keep his distance, until a mascot character walked up to Ran.

Things just got bizarre as the DB, beat the mascot to the ground…it was rather disturbing.

Naruto observed Tomonari Makoto as he was arrested by Takagi and Mouri followed him to bring Tomonari in.

But something was off.

He could not feeling any killing intent from Tomonari. He remember the sensation he felt back at the hospital all to clearly when he was being watched from the shadows. Whoever was watching him had the killer instinct aimed at him to kill. While he had suppressed it, Naruto had still felt his desire to kill him. But this guy didn't give him the same feeling at all.

He wanted to protest and say something, but that would just blow his cover and he still needed Ran as bait for the real murderer to come out.

"Sorry Ran-san." The boy muttered and ignored the ache in his heart from this disgusting act of his.

It was getting dark as the parade started, and Naruto saw a glimmer, there!

"Got you now you son of a bitch." The blond snarled as he drew his kunai knife.

And a shot was fired.

Professor Agasa was hit in the shoulder and Ran took off in a sprint.

Naruto scowled as he followed her.

After a brief bout of running, he saw her stop and hid behind a pillar, and seconds later, Conan grabbed Ran by her hand and took off.

Which lead to an epic chase as Conan took a speed boat and the murderer followed as they rode off a waterfall to the lake below. Thankfully with chakra, Naruto ran on the water to catch up and dived into the lake below to follow.

Naruto swam to land and saw Conan and Ran fleeing to Science and Space Island.

As he slowly approached his target, he noticed Conan had been hit in the arm, but that matter little, as Kazato the medical examiner gloated at the two.

As the water fountain rose around Conan and Ran, Kazato extended his hand.

Perfect.

"HA!" Naruto shouted as he threw his kunai.

"Wha?!" Kazato sputtered in surprise at the noise, only to feel a weight lifted off his hand.

Or wrist for that matter.

The tri-prong kunai sliced though his left wrist clean.

"Ah!" the doctor cried out at the stump of his arm while falling to his knees.

Naruto made a mad dash for the gun but Kazato saw him heading for it and moved to intercept but Naruto was expecting that and with that he sidestepped a swing of the arm Kazato tried to hit him with before Naruto jumped up and delivered a painful spin kick to the side of his head that sent him rearing back and falling on his face but not enough to knock him unconscious which was fine with Naruto.

"Urg why you little br…" Kazato's insult was cut short when he raised his head to see his gun aimed directly at his skull by Naruto a good six feet away who was looking at him with open anger and malice in his eyes. The water came down as Conan and Ran's eyes widened at the sight of a red eyed Naruto as his finger was on the trigger looking ready to pull it and kill his mother's perpetrator.

"Naruto, NO!" Conan shouted.

Naruto slightly lowered the gun and fired the shot.

"Gruah!" the murderer shouted in pain as he was shot in the kneecap, making him cry as he whimpered at his stump and shattered kneecap.

"That's to make sure you don't try anything further. So tell me how does it feel being the defenseless target of someone else who holds your life in their hand?" Naruto asked in a low whisper as his slitted red eyes made him look like the devil's child.

Kazato said nothing as the look Naruto gave him left him and the gun he was holding left him silent in fear.

Naruto took a step further as he aimed the gun once more, "I asked, How does it feel you bastard?! How does it feel to have your life in the hands of someone who wants you to die!" he shouted in rage.

"Naruto calm down. He isn't going anywhere." Conan said in a rational tone as he held his arm and slowly approached the blond.

However what happened next surprised Conan as Naruto turned the gun on him and fired a shot that hit the ground a few inches next to Conan's feet which startled him and forced him to take a step back in reflex.

"Don't come closer to me right now Specs." The blond growled out as his shoulders squared and he looked at his friend with clear anger in his eyes showing he wasn't going to let Conan stop him from getting what he wanted.

Conan halted and raised his arms. "Please, Naruto. You are so better than this."

"He has to pay. For what he did to my mother he'll pay with his life."

Moments later, cop cars zoomed by and surrounded the area.

"Naruto-kun put down the gun!" Shiratori called out, but Naruto blocked him out.

**"Do it." **A dark voice whispered into his ear, **"He wronged you, he took from you, give into your anger and finish him. All your life you've endured what others have dealt you in pain and suffering, now you can fight back and make them pay." **it lulled.

The words the voice spoke only increased his desire for revenge even further. The temptation to do so was growing and becoming more firm; he wanted the bastard dead, right now for what he did!

"Stop!" a feminine voice called out as Naruto turned to see Haibara who had been the one to shout.

Haibara began to slowly walk forward to him while Megure didn't stop her despite how much he wanted to but he saw the look in Naruto's eyes and knew that he wasn't going to listen to the adults, so he hoped that he would listen to his close friend.

However Naruto had other plans.

"Stay back Ai-chan." Naruto said with authority.

Seeing that his attention turned to her, Haibara stopped her approach and began to try and reason with him.

"Naruto-san you don't have to do this. You already caught the guy and he's going to go to jail for the rest of his life." She said while trying to get him to lower the weapon with the thought of his mother's assailant being behind bars until he died of age of sickness.

"Send him to jail? And then what!? Let him live with the personal satisfaction of knowing he succeeded in killing 2 cops, putting my mother in a coma and on the verge of dying while attempting to find and kill me as well! FORGET IT!" He shouted bitterly and with venom that surprised everyone around him.

"But this isn't what your mom would want. She wouldn't want you to throw away your freedom and dream of becoming a great police detective just so you could kill one man who wronged you." Haibara said gently as her eyes seemed to reflect her own pain when she heard his outburst.

Hearing that brought a new feeling over Naruto. For one moment he saw the image of his mother hovering behind Haibara and looking at him with sadness as she shook her head telling him that she didn't want this from him.

Ai approached him and placed her hand on his shoulder before lowering it and wrapping it around his empty hand. Naruto looked into her eyes, his red eyes of anger stating deep in her sparkling blue eyes that showed compassion. That had stopped him short as he inhaled sharply. _'She, she's right.'_ He thought before he looked at the gun in his hands and slowly let it go as he fell to his knees. He felt tears going down his cheeks as the gun fell to the floor and his red eyes turned back into its ocean blue shade.

Next thing he knew, he was crying in Ai's arms as loud as he could, all his feelings of anger, dread, and hate…he just let it all out as she rubbed his back.

Kazato was quickly arrested and brought to the hospital for his now stump of a hand and Ran had regained her memory from the whole ordeal.

"Everyone! Sato-kun is stabilized! She's going to be okay!" Shiratori announced as everyone cheered.

Naruto smiled as tears fell from his eyes.

**0 Hospital 0**

Naruto walked into his mother's hospital room for the first time and sat in one of the chairs, "Hey, Kaa-san." He said with a teary smile as he held her hand.

"Naruto-kun." Miwako said with a weak smile.

And at that moment, the young boy felt that all was right in world.

**0**

**Done & done!**

**Freakin' Finally!**

**Nothing else to say except that ACUB is next.**


	8. AN: Revelation

Okay, I am just going to say it, RL is a pain and it's coming to me soon. I am entering my last semester of college. So, I'm switching it onto Hiatus instead. Chapters will come out at random, I will only do it when I feel like it, similar to my Kingdom Hearts fic. I just have so much stuff on my plate that some stories such as ROTK are on the back burner and I want to finish up TMON since the Negima series has ended and finish season 2 of TCOM.

You want to know why I'm doing this instead of dropping it? It isn't because I don't love this fic, I love all my fics since I work hard on them. No, thank a reviewer named _Komada_. Thank this reviewer. Now. He's the reason for me continuing this, he inspired me not to lose my fire for my fics just b/c real life is in the way,** 'There are ways to still give it attention, just pace yourself on it instead of running a marathon with it. I can't even tell you how many good stories get ruined by people trying to rush things, you just need to pace yourself with it.' **He reminded me that I don't have to give up and I thank him for it.

Did I jump the gun? Maybe. I am just scared I am not going to be able to do this much once I have to graduate, once I get a job and focus on my future. I love writing so much, it just gives me a sense of peace and calm. And in stressing about it, I almost threw away something I took pride in.

Thanks Komada, you rock.


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